


The Mafia Teacher

by TheSilverHunt3r



Category: Assassination Classroom, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Decimo!Tsuna, F/M, Gen, Irina is shallow but not as horrible, It’ll probably be not subtle mentionings of confirmed 27K, I’m not using Irina’s nickname, NotOPedVongola, OCs - Freeform, Passable fake identities, Romance level tbd, The Guardians keep getting screen time, Vongola is a big Family of caring idiots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-16 17:49:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 38,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13059057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSilverHunt3r/pseuds/TheSilverHunt3r
Summary: When you have a color changing octopus nicknamed Korosensei,  government agent Karasuma, and a assassin named Irina Jelavich, all teaching E class, who else could you add?  An Italian Mafia boss, anyone? Enter Tsunayoshi Sawada, Vongola Decimo.No slash.





	1. A letter

A letter from the government arrived. It had passed through several allied famiglia's to get to the Vongola head. The usual protocol for passing along letters from the governement to Vongola was done as such to ensure no foul play would happen.

The manila envelope was on a dark cherry wood desk, buried under paper. The three large windows were open, white curtains held to the side by gold tassels. Piles of paperwork were scattered around, mostly finished, due to it being near night fall. Several chairs and tables were placed around the edges of the room, all with styles that somehow fit into the puzzle of the room.

A Italian man was sitting lazily in a chair, leafing through a report of a recent destruction of a small famiglia. A black fedora with a orange ribbon around the base sat perched on his head. A small green chameleon was curled up on the man's black vest, tilting it's head at the paper with interest. The man's onyx eyes gleamed as he smirked at the report. Curly sideburns bounced slightly as he moved his head.

A Japanese man was sitting at the desk, a black chair supporting him as he shifted. His eyes were the color of amber, a a sunset orange tie layer loosely around his neck, and black pen was in his right hand, while his other hand was combing through his hair. His chocolate brown locks shifted before going back to their respective gravity defying places.

And it wasn't until around 9 o'clock that the brunette got to the manila envelope. The brunette cut it open, looking over the pages with a calculating look.

"Hmm, the government envelope." The Italian man said with a smirk.

"They must be..quite desperate to be contacting us." The brunette said, his previous easy smile turning into a light smirk.

"If it has anything to do with the yellow octopus in Japan..."

"It's the octopus."

"How close have they hurt it?"

"The most the octopus has been hurt is...one tentacle."

"That's pathetic. You were doing more when you were even younger. But...They are focusing more on teaching them, then training them to become assassins. That is, if they're doing it right."

"They want someone to become a teacher."

"Well then, Dame-Tsuna, you better start packing." The Italian smirked, a glint in his eyes as he looked at the brunette.

"Why me?"

"For one you need a vacation, having you collapse is not something I prefer to see any of my students do."

"And two?"

"It'll be training, for both you and your guardians. And I'll supervise the affair."

"..."

"That's the spirit." A sigh echoed out at the brunette's glum expression.

"I do not wish to cripple myself, but you can take Leon if you stop pouting."

"...I have a better idea. I'll go, but I take the fedora with me."

"...If you damage my fedora, I will kill you."

"I know." The brunette replied with a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to cross post one story to Ao3. I’ll be posting the long chapters I already have out (somewhat daily) until this story is caught up.  
> -Silver


	2. Truly desperate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when world governments are backed into a corner by a octopus.

'The government is desperate,' Tsuna mused as he walks down a government hallway. The brunette was going in as a mafia affiliated hitman.

For a 'the Japanese government needs help, and will release prisoners for your help,' to be sent out...It must be world-threatening to reach this point.

With that wonderful thought Tsunayoshi walked into the meeting room.

A thinly haired man clasped his hands together on top of a desk that was presumably his, a black haired man sat in a chair to Tsuna's right. A brunette who was at least a decade older then Tsuna stood by the window, his back to the door.

"Are you Yoshie Tsunayoshi?" The man behind the desk asked.

"Yes, I am. It's a pleasure to meet you." Tsuna said, flashing a smile at the man.

The man nodded. "A pleasure to meet you as well. I have heard..good things about you. I am Yamamato Rico. And this is Karasuma Tadaomi, a teacher for E Class."

"I am Asano Gakuho, the chairman of the Kunugigaoka Junior High School." The reddish brunette said, he fixed Tsuna with an impressive look for a chairman. Unfortunately for the chairman, Reborn has a drastically more deadly aura.

Karasuma stood and shook hands with Tsunayoshi. Both noted the strength of each other. The wary respect the two had for each other was firmly cemented.

"However much we want to place more agents and assassins in, the students need to be taught adequately as per the agreements of the deal. The question is what you will teach them?" Yamamoto interrupted the subtle strength contest between the agent and disguised don.

Something he's good at that he could teach? With his tutor he could teach anything but..."I see. Is home economics available?" Tsunayoshi asks.

"You wish to teach home economics?" Yamamato asks with a raised eyebrow.

"If it is a available, yes."

"Well then, I do believe the home economics teaching position for E Class is empty, Mr. Asano?" The government man turned his head in the principal's general direction.

"Yes, it is. " The man responded calmly. "Do you have any proficiency at cooking?" Asano questioned.

"I was trained by a chef in Italy. And I found that I enjoy it." Tsuna answered without delay. Reborn had erm, requested the service of top chefs from around the world to teach his student. Especially when it was found out by his tutor that he had a talent for cooking.

"Would you be fine with a trial period, Mr. Yoshie?"

"I would, thank you." Tsunayoshi responded gratefully. Naturally, both the Japanese government and the school would be cautious of hiring a hitman to teach.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Yoshie." Yamamoto nodded once in approval towards the young brunette. His word signaled that the interview was at an end. The government man stood up and shook hands with Tsunayoshi.

"You're welcome, it was my pleasure. Have a wonderful day." Tsunayoshi replied, he inclined his head towards the three men before he left.

"What do you think about him?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An:  
> Next up:The man, the legend,...the Principle.  
> -Silver


	3. The Principal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The man, the legend....the Principal.

It was a Monday, which meant the first day of teaching was here. At 5:45 Tsuna woke up, showered and dressed, and was out the door by 5:55.

Tsunayoshi walked to a cafe, and ate. At 6:15 Tsuna walked back to his house, started his car, drove to the school parking lot, and reached the principal's office at 6:30.

Tsuna stopped for a moment at the door before knocking, the principal said 'come in', and Tsuna walked in.

The room was shockingly Spartan, the largest piece of furniture was a desk in the center of the room.

"I hope you enjoy your trial period. At the end of the month I will make a decision regarding whether you will continue." Asano said cordially.

"Thank you very much Mr. Asano." Tsuna said, smiling at stoic principle.

"I assume you have your lesson for today ready?"

"Yes, thank you for your concern."

"Then, you may leave with my blessing. Enjoy your first day."

The door clicked behind Tsuna, and he walked down the hallway pondering the meeting.

Tsuna glanced at his watch, it was 6:32. Much earlier then he'd expected. He was supposed to arrive on the mountain at 7:00 and be introduced to the class at 7:30.

Tsuna sighed, he could tell it would be a crazy rest of the year.

 

 

Japanese Government Profile Summary:

Tsunayoshi Yoshie

Birthday 10/14/20xx (Age 21)

Height 174 cm (Thats 5'7 for my American homies. On the wiki as a young teen, Tsuna is 157 cm. Iemitsu is around 6'2 or 187 cm. Nana is 155 cm or 5'1. Giotto's height is 180 cm or 5'9.)

Appearance:Spiky brown hair, caramel eyes, teardrop-lean face, somewhat muscular.

Profession:Hitman, twenty eight confirmed missions, more suspected.

MO:All rounder, prefers hand to hand combat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up:A very unusual enviroment.


	4. E Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very unusual enviroment

Tsuna parkoured to the top of the mountain. The brunette brushed off a few twigs as he landed at the edge of a clearing. While he had time, Tsuna scouted the area surrounding the school building. When he was finished, it was 6:57 so he made his way to the mountain path and walked to the shoddy building in the middle of the clearing.

'A lovely place,' Tsuna thought sarcastically. The paint was cracked and peeling and the floor had spiderwebs of cracks.

Tsuna walked down the hall way, humming a tune that faintly echoed through the building.

Tsuna tilted his head as he walked past the classroom full of children, his humming growing softer when he was in front of the door.

Tsuna opened the door to the teacher lounge. Karasuma was reading a book. 'Well, that was anticlimactic.' Tsuna mused with a smile.

"Good morning Karasuma. Ahh...May I have the mission file, and weapons I requested?" Tsuna asked

Karasuma started slightly. The black haired man stood up, closed the book he was reading, and handed Tsuna a black file along with a black brief case.

"Of course, and good morning to you as well."

"Thank you. May I have some?" Tsuna asked, gesturing towards the coffee machine.

"That's for the teachers, so yes. I do believe it's a Brazilian mix that the octopus got." Karasuma said.

Speaking of coffee, both Tsuna and Reborn greatly value their coffee and espresso, their mutual favorite being Peruvian coffee and espresso, followed by Ethiopian, Costa Rican and Californian tied for third. Chocolate covered espresso beans are bought in bulk by the Vongola. Several small dishes full of the beans are scattered around the Vongola Decimo's office. The duo(and sometimes the guardians) often snack on them while reading, signing, (or trying to think of ways to avoid) paperwork.

Tsuna poured himself a cup, sipping the coffee and reading the file. Now, yes, when the Vongola was sent the 'letter' it also contained information. But this file, this was updated, and included most or all of the sensitive information. Because no one was idiotic enough to give someone the full file of information when they hadn't even accepted the job.

Tsuna slipped the file into a compartment in the brief case, and started arming himself with the modified weapons. He slipped a array of small needles into his orange tie. A large amount of knives he also hide around his body, some real, some anti-Korosensei. And four guns, two small real ones, and two anti-Sensei handguns.

It was 7:29. Tsuna stood up, placing the brief case next the wall, and walked towards the classroom.

Tsuna started humming again, a smile on his face as he remembered his middle school days.

Tsuna knocked on the opened door as he looked inside.

"Everyone, this is the new teacher Tsunayoshi Yoshie." Everyone in the classroom was scrutinizing him. And not just the regular scrutiny, the calculating gaze of people who are not trusting. No, no one was innocent to suspicion here. 'That'd keep them alive a lot longer then naivety in most cases', Tsuna mused.

His smile was light, and warm. His brown hair was fluffy and gravity defying with a orange ribboned black fedora, his eyes a warm light brown with flecks of bright amber, he wore a brown jacket with a white button up, black dress pants, and his tie was a sunset orange.

"I am Korosensei, a fellow teacher. And your target." Korosensei said, extending a tentacle.

"A pleasure to meet you. Call me Tsuna." The brunette said, flashing a innocent smile as he accepted the handshake.

"Is it alright if I take a minute for introductions?" The brunette asked.

"Yes, of course, go right ahead." Korosensei said, stepping to the side.

"Will everyone please tell me their names?" The brunette asked.

All of the students introduced themselves by seat number.

"It's nice to meet you all. I'm going to be teaching Home Ec. Any questions?"

"Why are you here?" Isogai asks.

"I'm here to teach you Home Ec, and help you kill Korosensei." Isogai and several others nod. At least he wasn't just here for the bounty it seemed. Or at least if he was, he would at least teach them fairly, was the hope of most the class.

Karma tilted his head while leaning forward slightly, the brunette was interesting to him. And as it seemed, to all the other students as well.

"What do you do?" Nagisa asks.

"I'm a hitman." Tsuna says smoothly, blinking slightly at the shocked faces. He mentally hit himself for just casually saying he was a hitman to children he still considered civilians.

"Of course, I'm not here to kill you, I'm here to kill 'Koro'. One of the things I want to do is make sure all of you survive through..all of this." The brunette gestured with his right hand, The more observant of the class noted that he wore two rings with a chain connecting them.

"Any other questions?"

"Why do you wear those two rings?" Karma asked.

"I like them. In an unfamiliar setting, it's good to have something that's familiar." The brunette says, flashing a sincere smile that made the class either have nosebleeds or blush.

"I think that's it for questions, so I'll see you all in class in a few hours, until then." The brunette said, flashing a small smile as he nodded to the octopus and stepped out.

Tsuna spent the time before his class looking over surveillance files on his phone.

The class had been looking at the brunette as if they were predators and he was their prey.

A few in particular had a predatory gaze, a green haired girl, a bluenette boy, and the red head in the back row. 'Hmm, Kayano Kaede, Nagisa Shiota, and Karma Akabane the violent genius...He has a good bit of bloodlust. All three of them do in fact. Not to say that the rest of the class doesn't.'

"Hello everyone. Today, we're going to make some cookies. I have three recipes, everyone can choose from chocolate chip, oatmeal, and sugar cookies. So everyone please separate into three groups, chocolate on your right, oatmeal is middle, sugar cookies to your left. Raise your hand if you need help."

Tsuna chewed on a cookie he made from the leftover dough. The day had been quite enjoyable. The class had warmed up to him quite a bit, after they saw him helping some of the class that struggled in baking. 'I make a...alright teacher,' Tsuna mused. The students were adequate, and the octopus only tried to steal food once before Korosensei was told he could ONLY have some after class. He'd only use Reborn's tactics for tor-training the students (or Korosensei) if need be. Hopefully for them it wouldn't come to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna starts being a Teacher right after Karma Time.  
> Next up:Introducing the blond.  
> I’m going on end crossposting for today.  
> -Silver


	5. Irina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing the blond.

When the new teacher came, Tsuna stayed out of the way. He also had a headache due to his hyper intuition for several days. The E-Class was quite..verbal in regards to the blond, but Tsuna did manage to get the class to try and understand their new teacher, even if they hated her. Apparently Irina Jelavich had a disregard for the students. And Tsuna could see why, she considered them civilians, and children.

As formerly said, Tsuna stayed out of the way. It was only now, that Tsuna allowed himself to be found and introduced. Hyper intuition can go very far when he doesn't want to be found. Extra lessons from Reborn on stealth also helped his elusiveness. Several times he had slipped out the window to escape from meeting the blond (while things were still crazy).

Tsuna walked down the hallway. Karasuma was standing next to a large chested blond. The two were conversing. The woman was quite obviously the assassin, as she fit the description perfectly.

Karasuma spotted Tsuna as he walked towards the other teachers. "Jelavich, this is the other teacher here you haven't met." Karasuma said.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Irina." Tsuna said, tilting his fedora down.

The blond's eyes widened, then squealed. "Ahh! You're so proper." The blond gushed as she glomped him. Well, he wasn't expecting that one.

"..." Tsuna sweat dropped. "Are you Serbian by any chance?" He said somewhat quietly.

"Yes. How could you tell?" Irina asked somewhat sharply, stepping back to scrutinize the brunette closely. 

The blond was quite unsettled by the observation. No had been able to tell where her accent was from for years. Her obscurity was helped by it fading over the years to a barely noticeable lilt.

"Mr. Yoshie is a hitman, Miss Jelavich. Miss Jelavich is an assassin, Mr. Yoshie." The nearby agent said as a means of introduction. 

The blond flipped her hair as the brunette ran a hand through his bangs. The duo avoided each other's gaze as they thought. 

Korosensei appeared down the hallway (A wild Pokemon has appeared!), next to Karasuma. Karasuma and Korosensei started talking (arguing) with each other. 

As the two were distracted, the women decided to test a theory.

"Lovro." The assassin said, while placing a hand on her hip. A smirk was on her lips, but a calculating look was in her eyes.

"Reborn." The brunette replied with a smirk, tilting his fedora down to hide his amber eyes.

'Well known mentors. Well, that's one thing we have in common.' The two thought. After the vital piece of information was shared, the two respected each other. Reborn and Lovro had worked together and held overlapping interests in regards to the underground. Also, there was always a lot of rumors floating around about Mafia members, assassins, and hitman.

"Call me Tsuna, please." Tsuna said with a smile.

"Then call me Irina, Tsuna." The blond beamed.

They both had a gut feeling in that moment, a sense of kinship. They were generally in the same profession, surrounded by preteens, around the same age, and had heard rumors about each other. One used her wits and beauty, one used his wits, flames, and physical strength, both struck when they were the least expected. 'Honor among thieves' is a known saying, 'true friends are rare' should be one as well.

"Ice cream afterwards Irina-Imouto?" The brunette asked, somewhat hesitantly. Irina almost gaped, for a hitman to call anyone little sister...

"I'd love to Tsuna-Nii." The blonde said. Tsuna grinned in response.

Karasuma and Korosensei stop arguing and look at the two.

"Nurufufufu, they seem to be getting along." Korosensei said. 

Karasuma raised an eyebrow at the assassin and hitman. "Yes, they do seem to be getting along quite well. Surprisingly so."

"Nurufufufu..." Korosensei says. Mentally, the octopus was surprised at the progression of the two's relationship. The octopus rubs two tentacles together in thought. Although the octopus was quite a romantic in regards to dating and marriage, he also loved family bonds. (He's constantly trying to set up romances in his class. If you don't believe me about the last part, he literally cried over that movie with the brothers.)

Irina and Tsuna spent the rest of the time between the blonde's class talking about several of their experiences and stories. Preferred weapons came up, to which Irina admitted that she didn't have much training with weapons aside from guns. Languages and other talents came up as well. Although Tsuna knew the main languages, he struggled in Mandarin and a few others he was learning.

So Tsuna and Irina struck a deal, he would be willing to teach her how to fight with other weapons, and she would teach him languages. They'd also tell a few tips of their respective trade. They both had the feeling they could trust each other, and in their businesses, you trust your gut. It tends to help you not end up dead.

Tsuna read files on his phone while he waited for Irina to end her class.

The assassin spotted Tsuna at the door as he opened it.

"Ah, hello Tsuna-Nii, it's your turn to teach." The blonde said, grabbing her bag.

The class all looked up. 'What?' Was running through all of their heads.

"Hello Irina-Imouto, everyone!" The brunette said.

The classes jaws dropped. The blond walked up and kissed Tsuna on his right cheek, and then kissed the left. The brunette raising an eyebrow at the greeting but returned the greeting.

The brunette walked to the front of the class, and the blond walked out with a wave.

"Hello everyone, today we're making some stir fried rice!" The brunette said cheerily.

The class shook themselves out of their shock and start to listen to their teacher.

Luckily Rio and Karma were too shocked along with their class to tease the brunette.

 

Tsuna walked beside Irina as they went outside of the shoddy building.

The brunette stops for a moment at the crest of the mountain, the E-Class building still in sight.

The two smile faintly at the colorful sunset, red, purple, orange, and yellow streaks in the sky.

"It's beautiful." Tsuna says under his breath. Irina glances at him then nods.

Tsuna blinks, taking a breath, and then continues down the mountain path.

Tsuna and Irina go get ice cream as promised, the two lightly joking and reminiscing with each other.

The two split up for the night after exchanging phone numbers.

"Good night Irina-Imouto." Tsuna says.

"Good night Tsuna-Nii." Irina replies.

The brunette strolled to his apartment, opening his door while holding back a yawn.

Tsuna collapsed onto his bed and started replying to his messages. Gokudera was worried about how things were going, and Takeshi asked how he was doing. Chrome asked how class went and about his students, Ryohei had an extreme day(and reminded him to make sure he got some exercise), Kyoyo said hello. And Mukuro sent a picture of him in a cafe, in Venice, on a job.

Reborn sent several pictures of the guardians doing paperwork in the office. Thankfully his tutor(being the sadistic 'wonderful' hitman that he was), managed to force (coughscarecough) the guardians into doing Tsuna's paperwork. Mukuro managed to get out of paperwork by taking a timely mission in Venice.

Hopefully nothing would happen during the night. The brunette turned off his phone, and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to icefox94, the only commentor so far.  
> Next up:Probably poisonous  
> -Silver


	6. Poison, please no

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Probably poisonous

Tsuna drank his coffee as he walked up the mountain. It was a pleasant day. Unfortunately the discrimation the class faced would dampen their spirits. But, Tsuna had a feeling it wouldn't take them out of the game. 

 

"I don't know how this will turn out." Korosensei said softly.

Tsuna snorted.

"E-Class will ace their tests. All of them have gained self confidence, they won't bend as easily. Have some faith in your students, Korosensei. And be ready to catch them if they fall." Tsuna said, giving a smirk towards the octopus. The octopus blinked at him.

"Nurufufufufu, thank you for boosting my confidence, Tsuna-Sensei." Korosensei said. His grin becoming wider, somehow.

 

'I have a feeling Reborn would handle it like that, just not as verbally. Why I am thinking about him?' Tsuna went through a few files that had been at the drop off.

'Actually, stop lying to yourself, Tsuna. You know why.'

A enemy famiglia was experimenting on children and teenagers. They were based in Nothern Italy.

'Reborn is your mentor. He's family. It became more then just a job for him, and he knows it.'

Apparently all of the subjects had around a 4% survival rate. Over three hundred had been taken. Ten were alive.

'He's the one who helped you survive. And the only one who seemed to know what you are thinking, and corrects you when you are wrong.'

The family had four bases, still relatively small. Especially compared to the Estraneos. It was less stressful then raiding a larger family. But if something went wrong, his men would die. A few would still die whatever he did.

'He understands. And he's your advisor.'

But at the same time, he still needed to create a plan, or approve one. But his gaurdians were out doing their various jobs. The longer it took him, the more were hurt. He needed have a plan done by the end of the day, max. He had to minimize casualties, and for that he needed to be tactical. Which was a strain on Tsuna mentally.

'He's also the closest father figure I have.' Tsuna sighed, he really needed to stop being distracted. He could always distract people with his rabbit hole thoughts or hit the nail with a hammer, but he also got distracted by his thoughts. It was a pro for conversations with others, not always good with conversations with himself. 

 

The brunette was going to ask Korosensei something quickly. (Because the octopus had good ideas if he wanted to be serious.) So he walked down the hall.

Tsuna looked in the classroom right as Okuda was walking up to Korosensei with a vial of poison.

He deadpanned at the sight. 'Nope!' Tsuna thought, he closed the door quickly and walked down the hall. 'No. No. No. Bye.'

 

Tsuna waltzed into the hall, fedora covering his eyes, a smirk with the hint of pearly teeth on his face. A black file was in his hands and he thumbed through it as he walked

Tsuna's fanbase extended outside of E Class the moment the rest of the school saw him.

The brunette then settled down to watch the assembly, hear the announcers, and suppress the bloodlust he was going to feel like using when he heard jabs at E Class.

 

Tsuna's headache started before Home Ec. said headache increased when Okuda walked up to him with a book full of notes. The rest of the class stopped to watch.

"Tsuna-Sensei, I'm trying to poison Korosensei, can you please help me?" The bespectacled girl practically begged.

Tsuna rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Bianchi deja vu number two." He muttered. He had literally built up a resistance to poisons of all types because of...that woman.

"What was that you said, Tsuna-Sensei?" Karma asked innocently.

"Nevermind...Okuda, yes. I will help you. I have extra time tomorrow after school. Make sure to get your parent's permission." Tsuna said. Why Okuda was asking about him how to poison something in the first place he had little idea. But thinking of the other teachers, Tsuna could see why she wouldn't want to ask them.

"Yes, sir! Thank you Tsuna-Sensei." Okuda said happily.

After all the students left, Tsuna shivered mentally at the reminder of Bianchi and her poison cooking. He was forever scarred by some of the misadventures he had had with her food. Not to mention his Guardians, they'd had their own mishaps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up:Basic exposition of the mafia  
> -Silver


	7. Trip to Kyoto, without Tsuna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basic exposition of the mafia

'This may not go over well.' Tsuna thought, mentally groaning. The brunette tapped the brim of Reborn's fedora in thought.

"I have an announcement to make, everyone. I unfortunately won't be with you on the Kyoto trip, or for part of it at least." Tsuna said. 

"Why's that Tsuna-Sensei?" Kayano asked.

"I have a few things I need to take care of." 

"Oh? Would these few things involve killing some people Tsuna-Sensei?" Karma asks.

"If a meeting goes wrong, then yes." 

The class stared at their teacher, Tsuna had a frown on his face for the first time they'd seen him. 

"What meeting is it?"

"I do apologize, but that's all I can say without breaking Omertà." Tsuna said with a wry look. 

All the students gained a confounded look. "What's Omerata?"

"Ahh! Tsuna, would you like to explain or shall I?" Korosensei says, rubbing two tentacles together. 

"You can go ahead, I don't mind." Tsuna says, giving a warm close eyed smile.

"Alright, class, take notes!" Korosensei said, writing on the board. Irina watched with interest from the side of the classroom.

"Now, the Omertà is a code of honor that places importance on silence, non-cooperation with authorities, and non-interference in the illegal actions of others. It originated and remains common in Southern Italy, where banditry and the Mafia-type criminal organizations are strong. It is also deeply rooted in rural Crete (Greece), and Corsica.

It also exists, to a lesser extent, in certain Italian-American neighborhoods where the Italian-American Mafia has influence—and Italian ethnic enclaves in countries such as Germany, Canada, and Australia, where Italian organized crime exists. Retaliation against informers is common in criminal circles, where informers are known as "rats" or "snitches"." Korosensei said, finishing writing it down on the board with a flourish. 

Tsuna sighed at the lengthy explanation. 

"To summarize, Omertà means you don't break faith about the information you know. You don't tell the police, you don't tell other people, you don't gossip about the goings on of your group. The punishment for breaking Omertà is death." Tsuna said.  Korosensei quickly wrote down what Tsuna said on the board. 

"Wait a minute, which group are you Tsuna-Sensei?" Rio pried. A mutual smirk on her face and Karma's.

"Excuse me? I don't quite understand the question." Tsuna said, a confused look on his face. 

"Yeah. Which mafia group do you belong to Tsuna-Sensei?" Sugino asked.

Tsuna suddenly smirked, he tapped one finger against the brim of Reborn's fedora. "Well, I suppose I can tell you that much. Don't go looking for them though, you aren't a match for even their mid level members." The students blinked at his serious tone and agreed. Tsuna paused, and the class could feel the tension building up. 

"I'm part of...Vongola." Tsuna said with a smirk. 

"What?" Was the mutual thought of confusion among the students and two teachers. 

"Clam?" Irina asked, looking confused for a moment before realization dawned on her face.

"What do you mean clam?" Nagisa asked. 

"Vongola means clam in Italian. The Vongola Famigila is the strongest mafia family in the world." Irina answered.

"Why did you join the mafia, Tsuna-Sensei?" Fuwa asked, bitting her lip. 

"I'm blaming my mentor for that one." Tsuna said dryly. 

"And that's the end of this interrogation, I'll be notifying your parents about my absence." Tsuna said, after glancing at the clock. 

"Have a good day! I'll see you when we meet for the trip tomorrow, students!" Korosensei said, his face striped green. 

"See you tomorrow Tsuna-Sensei, Irina-Sensei!" The students chorused before going out the door. Everyone rushed to leave on Fridays, and today was no exception. 

Korosensei sobbed in the corner. The other two teachers rolled their eyes or sighed respectively at the sight. The assassin and hitman shrugged and walked off. 

"All alone, no one cares." Korosensei said sullenly. 

Karasuma walked by, looked in the door way and spotted the octopus. "Octopus, stop sulking..."

"You care!" Korosensei cried out, bounding over to the door. 

"...It's annoying." Karasuma finished. The agent continued to leave the building for his long awaited Friday. A.K.A., a short respite from the craziness that is E Class and it's teachers. He would take a few hours of sleep and normalcy before he had to deal with the trip to Kyoto.

Korosensei face planted at the words and dogeza crawled his way through the door way. 

Suddenly the Octopus's face turned yellow and green. "Nufufufufu, I wonder what everyone is doing." Korosensei said, standing upright, his voice gaining a mischievous tone. 

Thirty minutes later

"Ai! Ei! Ei!" Korosensei screamed as he dodged small knives, courtesy of Tsuna. 

The octopus finally had enough and fled, deciding to spend his time at a less dangerous place then the hitman's apartment. His drop by had not been welcomed because he had unintentionally interrupted Tsuna hacking a high security server. 

Tsuna frowned as he leaned out the window, before sighing, shaking his head and relatching the window. He'd have to get the knives later tonight. 'Why was this job so annoying at times and enjoyable at others?' Tsuna mused. He'd probably never get an answer. 

Tsuna checked his phone once again. Mukuro finished his mission, his Guardians finished a large amount of paperwork, and Reborn had figured out this year's expenses so far. The amount of property damage is always a very very large headache for the Vongola leaders(most of the damage was pinned accurately to his gaurdians. Reborn could actually leave no evidence of him being somewhere, regardless of what he did there.).

And it seemed like all was going well. Which meant something was going to go wrong. So Tsuna immediately hid a knife and gun under his pillow and went to sleep. He hoped that he could be on his job early, and possibly escape what events would occur tomorrow. If it had anything to do with E-Class, or his gaurdians, they could handle it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, does anyone have any idea what Anti-Sensei weapons are made of?
> 
> Next up:Sharks in the water  
> See ya later 
> 
> -Silver


	8. Breakfast and a meeting

Tsuna showered, dressed, and walked to his car. He stood there, checking his pockets with one hand, and sliding a pair of sunglasses on with the other. Finally he managed to fish out his keys from his jacket pocket. 

With a sigh, he slid into the seat of a black car. He drove for around two hours. A business building was being used to make things less conspicuous. Tsuna arrived to scout the place out briefly before going to eat. 

Tsuna smiled as he spotted someone sitting on a bench on the sidewalk near the meeting building. The black haired man grinned as he saw the brunette. 

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to be here?" Tsuna asked, rolling down his window as he pulled up beside. "Maa, Tsuna, I wanted to surprise you." Takeshi said with a grin. "Well, you surprised me. You want to grab some breakfast?" "That'd be wonderful." Takeshi replied.

At the cafe, there was unfortunately many glances from the single women in the room. As some of their gazes met, there were awkward side glances. Two attractive men in suits do garner attention.

After breakfast, it was decided that Takeshi would stay outside as per the rules. Breaking the rules would result in disastrous consequences for Vongola.

As for the meeting, the leaders of dozens of...less then legitimate organizations were invited. The requirement aside from being a influential group, was that the group had to have some 'good' moral code.

Two examples included outlawing selling drugs to minors and slave trafficking. The latter was vehemently despised by all there.

In the room were these unique felon group leaders and bosses. The meeting had been planned out weeks in advance, but unofficially had been worked on for the past year.

Around the large table, six seats in the middle area, two seats at the end of the table, and both heads, were still unseated. Tsunayoshi Sawada walked in, exchanging a few words with some of those seated. He made his way to the opposite side of the room.

A Yakuza leader, a blond by the name of Johnathan Yamamoto. He is listening surreptitiously to his somewhat ally Shigarashi (also Yakuza), while having a conversation with the man across from him.

Two Asian information broker leaders were cryptically talking. Their names are Kong and Jima. Their real names continue to remain unknown. But they are trusted, their policy of client confidentiality has not been broken(as far as their customers know).

Around a dozen sitted already in the middle were mafia members from Europe, Africa, and North and South America. Two African leaders were trying to quietly argue in Swahili. But about once a minute one of them would say something loudly in annoyance.

To the Africans's right, two allied French and English mafia leaders talked politely. Although both sides could feel the tension in the conversation.

Two allied European mafia leaders of Italian descent argued against another (rather large) Italian mafia leader. The latter was stoic, and bluntly shot down his opposition in Italian. The rest of the dozen were having polite chats as decorum demanded.

To the right of the middle, a Welsh man by the name of Ryan Peary was drinking iced coffee he managed to find. He was the leader of Inter-Stellar, a group of information brokers with a global network. He was chatting with his ally across the table, T.K. Jones from Farisi.

Next to Jones is the Fuller family, a European black market group. Their representative is Raphael Petit.

To Petit's right is Vongola, the world's strongest mafia family;Vongola Decimo Tsunayoshi Sawada was talking politely with the leaders around him.

The brunette had an innocent smile as usual. His sweet personality often made both ally and enemy underestimate him. His seat was to the right of one end of the table.

In quietly walks one more of the invitees. One of the board members for Phoenix. Her name is Sandra Suarez, tall with black hair. She is mostly Spanish and Italian. A dangerous woman to cross, with pleasant disposition.

To Suarez's right and Vongola Decimo's left, at the end of the table, is the chairman (technically chairwoman(and hello feminists)) of the Saoirse. Saoirse was a intelligence agency for hire.

Lucretius Garner had a light smile on her face. But don't be mistaken, she is a contender for the most lethal person in the room. One of many reasons being she inherited her family's habit of surviving and turning around impossible situations. 

As Suarez sat down, Lucretius started up a polite conversation with the other women. Eventually, several representatives finished their conversations and turned to other people to talk.

"So, Tsuna, have your guardians destroyed Vongola Mansion already while you're gone?" Lucretius teased.

Tsuna has a few sane friends, Lucretius is one of them.

"Fortunately no." Tsuna said with a chuckle. "Has Alex and the rest blown up HQ yet?" Tsuna replied, mentioning his other friend.

Alexander Rider and Lucretius Garner helped to quote 'keep the kid from dying.'

Tsuna and Luc still continued to be friends. In the underground, the organizations were staunch allies (both Vongola and Saoirse are still part of the Rampart Coalition).

"Oh dear Lord, thankfully they haven't...The damage costs have actually been low this year." Lucretius said, shaking her head.

"But I doubt the paperwork has dropped in quantity." Tsuna quipped. Lucretius snorted lightly. "It's the bane of a organization leader." "If only the positions didn't come with so much paperwork." Tsuna mourned. "True, if only such calamity could be averted." Lucretius said sorrowfully.

The two kept pokerfaces for a few seconds before Tsuna started laughing lightly. A few glances came their way, but all turned back to their conversations without a second look. Lucretius chuckled, and shook her head.

Michael Skye walked in, his black and silver suit perfect as ever. The dirty blond inclined his head towards the room, the observant representatives returned the act.

Michael Skye, the main representative of Glaive. It was a much darker syndicate then many of the others there. But compared to other large organizations, Glaive was the lesser of two evils. 

The most legitimate business of Glaive was the substantial millions that came from real estate. The dirty blond sat down at the head of the table opposite to Saoirse.

Tsunayoshi watched as calm green and cautious light brown met each other. The subsequent narrowing of eyes made Tsuna wince.

Tsuna sipped his water and (sincerely) thanked God, he was extremely glad he wasn't involved in that.

There was a recently clash of interest between Glaive and Saoirse, they had a somewhat...bitter rivalry. The conflict of interest was the interruption of a operation a piece, three explosions, eighteen covers blown, and ended overall with a baker's dozen of operatives dead. Another problem the two had with each other as of recent was a bill that had almost passed.

A few minutes later, the meeting began. It passed uneventfully. As uneventfully as it can pass with everyone in the room being a criminal.

In other words, some glares, knives, and threats were thrown around the room. (The knives almost started a turf war yet again, but that's not the point of this story.)

Lucretius and Tsunayoshi left the building together. On their way to the parking lot, Tsuna decided to ask Lucretius something. (...And no, he's not going to pop the question!) Takeshi was walking a few steps behind, with a slight bounce to his step. The so nicknamed 'baseball idiot' was cloud watching.

"Hey Lucretius..." Tsuna paused and bit his lip. He was thinking about asking her to help him with E Class. Any advice would be welcome.

The brunette glanced at her friend. "I'll be handling Asia and North America for the next few months. If you need help or advice, call." Lucretius said, an amused smile on her face. She didn't have hyper intuition, but she had something pretty close to it. And Tsuna knew about Saoirse's (insanely) extensive contacts, chances are, she already knew all about E Class.

"Thanks." Tsuna said softly. Lucretius nodded, giving her junior a side hug before walking to her car. It was a nice grey colored car with tinted windows. It wouldn't stand out much in the city, suburbs, or country. A real life spy car. One of the rules of the underground, standing out gets you killed.

"Hey Takeshi, do you want to go to Kyoto or go home?" Tsuna asked. The rain Guardian hesitated. " I want to spend time with you...but I'm not supposed to stay in Japan for more then today." The unspoken person who set the time limit was Reborn, and he was a stickler for punctuality.

The brunette pondered a solution for a few seconds."How about we drive to Kyoto, and you fly out from there. We can contact a Vongola pilot. That'd work." Takeshi grinned in response. "Sounds like a plan." Takeshi said, clapping his friend on the shoulder as they walked to the brunette's car.

Omake  
It was at that movement Tsunayoshi believed he was going to die, not just maybe die, actually die. Nobody from his family was around, it was just the two of them. 'My comic collection better be given to Takeshi, Reborn is not getting any of them.'

His life flashed before his eyes, he was growing up, he was Dame, he was a boss in training-"Don't get ready to die yet, I'm not going to kill you."

His attacker deadpanned and pulled the knife away from his throat. Tsuna stared at the person in shock. "What? Are you just going to lay there all day?" Tsunayoshi attempted to stand, but only managed to crouch, his vision went black for a moment. "I'm Lucretius Garner."

"Tsunayoshi Sawada." The brunette replied, almost stammering due to his tired state and usual shyness.

Fortunately he didn't, or Reborn being Reborn would up his training. How Reborn always knew, Tsuna didn't know. "It's nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you as well. Ah, Lucretius, why didn't you kill me?" "If you want, I can still do it." Lucretius said sarcastically, gesturing with her knife.

"No, no thanks." Tsuna said, mentally he gulped. "But still..." Tsuna trailed off. "It was a test." Lucretius shrugged, and a second later snapped her fingers. "By the way, call me Luc." "My friends call me Tsuna." "Okay then, Tsuna, how about we get down the mountain before you black out." "That...sounds like a good idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you got through the all the various organization representatives. Kudos to you. 
> 
> I hope you had a great Christmas (and break from school). I've spent most of my December buying gifts, drawing anime characters (Chuuya Nakahara galore), and reading Promised Neverland (the manga is so good I actually read it) and several comics on webtoons, and finishing up Kekkai Sensen and Shoukoku no Altair (it's sad the animes are ending).
> 
> Next up:Don’t distract the driver.  
> MERRY CHRISTMAS!  
> -Silver


	9. Trip to Kyoto, with Tsuna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don’t distract the driver

Karasuma sat behind a desk. In front of him stood a blond haired man. The two men were at odds, one wore a black suit, the other wore a beanie and a poncho.

"Here's the hitch. Your target is a junior high school teacher chaperoning students on a trip to Kyoto. As you're probably aware, he's not human. Now, I don't mean to call your skills into question, but on this assignment, be ready for anything."

'They call me Redeye, I'm a hired gun, a sharpshooter.'

 

Tsuna and Takeshi were friends. Friends that talked about somewhat random topics. Topics that engaged you mentally. Pondering some of life's greatest questions, like 'at a movie theater, which arm rest is yours?' and 'if a jogger runs at the speed of sound, can he still hear his iPod?'. The answer to both of those, is unknown.

Red lights

"We can make it." Tsuna said. "Tsuna, we can't!" Takeshi said. Tsuna veered around a car coming from the opposite side. The brunette turned the wheel the other way quickly, they shot onto the road. "Told you we'd make it."

Stop sign and listening to music

"This is ***** American Radio, playing 'Whatever it takes' by Imagine Dragons."

'Falling too fast to prepare for this

Tripping in the world could be dangerous'

'Everybody circling, it's vulturous

Negative, nepotist'

Takeshi started tapping his fingers to the beat.

'Everybody waiting for the fall of man

Everybody praying for the end of times

Everybody hoping they could be the one

I was born to run, I was born for this'

Tsuna turned the volume up. The two men were tapping out a rhythm on the dashboard or wheel.

'Whip, whip

Run me like a racehorse

Pull me like a ripcord

Break me down and build me up'

Tsuna and Takeshi jerked to a halt in time to stop from crashing into the car crossing the intersection. Takeshi released a breath full of nervous dread. "Maa~ I'm glad we aren't dead."

Turn

"We were supposed to turn right." Takeshi informed his friend.

"And we're now stuck in traffic..." Tsuna said, he suppressed the urge to face desk on the steering wheel.

U-Turn  
"I don't think this is legal, Tsuna!" Takeshi screamed, he had almost been tossed out the window. The swordsman loved roller coasters and doing dangerous stunts. But riding shotgun with Tsuna sometimes made him queasy.

Texting

Chat:Sane Squad  
LuckyCoin:Good afternoon  
GravityFanatic:Good afternoon  
GravityFanatic:What are you doing?  
LuckyCoin:Paperwork u?  
GravityFanatic:Same TT 

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay:Ha.

GravityFanatic:You've gone through our misery, you should know not to laugh. 

The brunette looked up right after the light turned green. The blare of several horns encouraged him to move. "Whoops," Tsuna said, and pressed down on the gas pedal. 

It was a testament to Tsuna's driving that Takeshi was actually scared (and exasperated) for a few seconds at some almost crashes. 

"Takeshi, I was taught to drive by my tutor and my father, what do you expect?" Tsuna asked somewhat rhetorically. "Nevermind." Takeshi deadpanned. 

If you think these 'scares' would make them more cautious and less talkative, you are wrong. There are very few equivalents of a Reborn scare. Almost nothing or no one can pass Reborn's glare in the 'I will kill you and make your death very painful' division. To put it simply, the existence of Reborn made everything a lot less scary when compared. 

Fireballs and arrows coming towards you? Piranhas, crocodiles, hippos, and pike in the water below? Snakes, spiders, bats moving above you? Carnivorous ants and poisonous toads on the ground? Facing the deadly Rhopalocera or dreadful Siluriformes? As long as it isn't Reborn, Vongola can take it. 

So yes, the drive to Kyoto was fraught with blatant disregard for safety hazards. Speaking of which, don't text while driving kids, you do not have Hyper Intution. Oh, I got lost in my narrator monologue. #Sorrynotsorry 

At a red light, Feeling Good by Michael Buble pealed out loudly in the car. 

'Fish in the sea 

You know how I feel 

River running free 

You know how I feel 

Blossom on the tree 

You know how I feel' 

"Will you please pick that up for me?" Tsuna asked. The stretch of road had ran over a cliff with several twists, he'd prefer not to fly off an edge due to being absorbed with one of his student's problems. "Sure~" Takeshi replied. 

The raven pressed 'accept call'. 

A quick breath of relief was heard from the other side before the person spoke. "Tsuna-Sensei, I, we, our group, some thugs beat our group up and took Kayano and Kanzaki-kun." A shaky voice informed. Takeshi narrowed his eyes, he felt the urge to go beat up some people. At the moment the student started speaking, Tsuna's HI abruptly kicked in and started ringing like a church bell. 

"Takeshi, hand me the phone." Tsuna said, his voice low and focused. Takeshi glanced over at his friend, and frowned. Tsuna's eyes slowly turned more orange by the second. With a sigh, the Rain Guardian relinquished his hold on the device. 

"Please repeat that?" Tsuna asked. 

"Tsuna-sensei-"Nagisa started. "-Some high school delinquents beat us up and took Kaede and Kanzaki." Karma finished. "Okuda managed to avoid them." Sugino added. 

"Where are you?" 

"We're in Kyoto, at ****** and ***** st." Karma replied. 

"You're on speaker phone, Tsuna-sensei," Nagisa said. 

"Currently, I'm five minutes away from where Korosensei is. Which is on the other side." The brunette said with masked frustration. 

"Have you called the other teachers?" Tsuna questioned. "We tried, but none of them are picking up." Sugino replied with mild frustration. "Except for you." Nagisa noted. 

"Where is Koro?" Tsuna asked. "He's with several of the other students." Sugino replied. "He hasn't picked up. He must have been moving around when we called." Karma theorized. "Call Karasuma and Jelavich again, then call Korosensei after. I'll tell Korosensei in person." "Okay. Good bye." 

Tsuna ran through the alley towards the students and Korosensei. Takeshi was several steps behind, he observed the colorful scenery and people. 

Tsuna's HI kicked it up to another notch. 

Takeshi looked at the pagoda and spotted the glint of metal. Takeshi whistled in appreciation as the sniper's bullet soared through the air. The shot was magnificent, it would have killed anyone. Unless that someone was a mutated octopus(?). 

In an attempt to distract the teacher, Hara insisted on Korosensei trying out blotting paper. The plan backfired spectacularly. A layer of mucus formed (due to the paper) which blocked the bullet. 

"Ahh, Tsuna, how are you?" Korosensei asked with concern. "Nagisa's-" Tsuna said breathlessly. "Tsuna-sensei!" Hara called out with a smile. The sound of chiming bells rang out. "Nagisa's group is calling, excuse me." Korosensei said. 

Korosensei gasped, "tell me where you are." Korosensei was quickly gone to help Nagisa's group. The air swept over the students and the tourists. Tsuna trusted the octopus, the other students would be taken care of. Although...he really wanted to get into the action. "Okay students, we're going to continue on our trip." Tsuna said with a smile. 

"Tsuna-Sensei, who's the guy?" Ryoma asked. "Maa~A pleasure to meet you." Takeshi said with a grin. 'You still didn't introduce yourself.' Tsuna and the students thought, and sweat dropped. 

"Oh! I'm Yamato. It's nice to meet you." 

Redeye made his way down a street. 'I've been a sniper for eight years. And not once failed to see a mark's blood in my scope. That's how I got the name Redeye.' The sniper leaned against the wall of an alley. His thoughts were interrupted by a raven that popped up out of seemingly no where. 

"Who are you?!" Redeye burst out. 

"Hi, I'm Yamato." The interrupting raven said cheerily. 

"Why are you here?" The sniper asked. Behind his goggles, his eyes were narrowed. Redeye noted the muscles of the man, the raven's forearms were the type that signaled of a expert swordsman. 

"You were the sniper that tried to kill the octopus, right?" The swordsman asked. 

"Why do you want to know?" 

"I only saw one of them, from the pagoda. From one assassin to another...you made a perfect shot." 

"Thank you...I'm thinking of taking a break from the business." Redeye admitted. 

"It's good to do." The swordsman nodded in acknowledgment. "There's too much..red...when you do it, it makes some things seem mute in comparison until you take a breather." 

"Maa~ I need to go or I'll be late for my plane. Have fun in Kyoto, Redeye." "I will. See you around, " Redeye gave a nonchalant wave to the raven. The sniper was honestly over it, his life for the past day was insane. 

Redeye pondered his run in with the swordman then returned to his original line of thought. 'Kinda strange when you think about it... nothing particularly red about my eye.' The sniper peered through an 'o' made from his fingers. 

"Here you go~ It's a special blend of spices from Sunenzaka [idk what Korosensei said here, plz help]." The yellow octopus said with a grin. 

"Thank you, I appreciate it...What in the?!" Redeye's jaw dropped.

"I'm going to get a heart attack from all these crazy people." Redeye deadpanned. 

Tsuna turned the hallway. The red hair of Karma disappeared into the boy's room. Tsuna opened the door and took a step inside. The boys were sprawled out in a haphazardous circle. 

"It's supposed to be lights out, but I doubt any of you will go to sleep. So, just try to be quiet." The brunette said with smile. Tsuna tilted his head back to drink some Coke. In hindsight, Tsuna shouldn't have had a sip of his soda. 

"Hey Tsuna-sensei, what girls have you crushed on?" Maehara asked.

Tsuna promptly did a spit take. (Unnoticed to the others, Korosensei picked up and disposed of the soda before it hit the ground. "After all, I wouldn't want nice floor to be ruined, wouldn't I?") 

The brunette pounded his chest and coughed. "What?? Why?!" Tsuna sputtered out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to icefox94, the only person who regularly comments on the Ao3 version.
> 
> My beta says hi.
> 
> Comment your favorite color and what animals Rhopalocera and Siluriformes are.
> 
> -Silver
> 
> Next:Predictive and unpredictive students.


	10. An AI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Predictive and unpredictive students

“Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery." Tsuna muttered, he was looking over the transfer student files. They were somewhat clever to send a AI as a student. But Koro would somehow find his way around it. He always did. Despite the differences in personality, Koro and Reborn always form some way to outwit their enemies. Actually, they usually already knew how to before, but held off to teach their students or pupil a lesson.

Tsuna sighed at first on hearing the sound of bullets. Looks like the students were trying another generic sudden assassination during Koro's class. After the first dozen times, every in the group got used to them.

Ten seconds later he had mentally gone through a list of the possible types of guns being used. Tsuna had gotten slow and allowed himself to be desensitized. The don sprinted for the door of the teacher lounge. 

The government was desperate and idiotic, but they were not that stupid to give his students a machine gun, right? Right?

Tsuna took words back, he looked at the classroom in mild disbelief. They were. The government was idiotic enough to put machine guns on a AI that would be in a class of middle school students.

Tsuna stood in the door, watching the AI as it attacked. He felt like doing something, but his action would be unwanted and possibly contract breaking. 

Tsuna smiled as he saw his student's faces. The students were annoyed.

The problem would be taken care of. The agreement never said anything about the students acting of their own will, after all.

Tsuna went back to the lounge. Conversations started up between him and Irina as he looked through the stack of files.

 

Next day

Tsuna decided to get up early. He prepared and ate a breakfast of sausages and scrambled eggs. 

The traffic was much better at 3 AM. 

Tsuna was tired, but it would be worth it if he managed to surprise whoever came to do the deed.

Tsuna dozed in the E Class building, he was inside the room next door to the classroom.

The hitman smirked at the sight of Terasaka sneaking in with duck tape. Terasaka's eyes widened at the sight of his teacher. "Make sure not to damage it." Tsuna said cheerfully, the brunette placed a hand on Terasaka's shoulder. 

Terasaka blinked in confusion as Sawada walked away. "How'd he know?" Terasaka thought, and then shoved the distraction aside. The student would need all of his limited stealth skills to creep into the classroom. 

 

Tsunayoshi couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing that the AI would formally be in his class. Oh yes, and the students had named it Ritsu.

 

Tsuna had a problem. Ritsu wanted to be on his phone.

"Yoshie-sensei, I can not download myself to your phone. If you would be kind enough to tell me your password so I may be of use?" Ritsu asked.

"First off, Miss Ritsu, you should have asked before attempting to download yourself." Tsuna's tone showed his disapproval. 

Several of the class flinched, yet all those present in the room turned calculating at the first negative emotion the teacher had displayed.

"Why is that Yoshie-Sensei?" The AI asked.

"I understand your want to be helpful and liked by the students and staff here. But privacy is an important concept to understand. While information and/or secrets can be perfectly acceptable to share, some may be embarrassing, and others may be dangerous." The brunette sounded both conversational and lecturing. Karma tilted his head at the last section said, he already understood where the teach was going with it.

"I don't understand." Ritsu replied, her avatar showed her confusion once again.

"I will explain what I mean by the latter part. Even though you are technically a member of the class. You are under your 'parent's', the government, control. Knowledge is power, and knowledge about someone can be a useful weapon." Tsuna layed out. 

The rest of the students of the class figured out where their teacher was saying.

"Due to my status in the Mafia, I can not allow you on my phone. It would both endanger me, my friends, my family, and quite likely this entire school." Tsuna stated with a End-of-discussion tone.

"I understand. You would be responsible." Ritsu stated, a spark of understanding visible in her voice and avatar.

"Yes, I am and would be responsible. And Ritsu, please call me Tsuna-sensei." The brunette replied with a nod and smile.

The rest of the class, except for the pranksters (my homies know who I'm taking about), sighed in relief. It was somewhat scary to see their teacher like that.

 

On his way to the teacher lounge, Tsuna grinned. 

Shouichi, Spanner, and Giannini worked wonders with technology. Giannini eventually stopped degrading every gadget he touched. It is important to note the 'every' in the previous sentence. It still happened, just not as commonly as before.

 

 

Right after his class, Tsuna got spammed with notifications from a chat room.

Chat:Weather Forecast  
Cowsrmylife:Octopus are you taking care of the paperwork?   
ClassicalRap:Unfortunately, yes.   
ClassicalRap:Why do I always have to handle the paperwork?   
Seafood&Swords:You're the best at it.   
Seafood&Swords:...  
Seafood&Swords:Also, no one else has the patience for it.   
ClassicalRap:Yeah...  
ClassicalRap:Hibari and Mukuro might just burn it.   
Illusionmast3r:I'm not confirming or denying anything Pup.   
Illusionmast3r:I have the plaster, did Birdy get the paint? 

WMDforlife:...

WMDforlife:Yes, I have the paint.

BestDayEver:I got the wood set up! 

Illusionmast3r2:What happened?   
ClassicalRap:It's a long story...  
Illusionmast3r:We'll tell you when you get back.  
UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay:What did you destroy? 

Illusionmast3r:...Gumdrops.

WMDforlife:...

Seafood&swords:...

Cowsrmylife:Who's idea was it to use this chat?  
Illusionmast3r:You.  
Cowsrmylife:...

EspressoForDays joined chat.

Somehow, Reborn managed to join the private chat. No one in Vongola knew how he could, and they didn't really want to know.

Tsuna opened a video chat. The male Guardians braced themselves and pressed 'Accept call'. Chrome decided that there wasn't much point in getting involved in the mess her counterparts made. The female wisely decided to act as a tourist the rest of the day.

"What. Did. You. Destroy?" 

Gokudera and Lambo gulped, Takeshi smiled sheepishly, Kyoya kept a pokerface, and Mukuro chuckled nervously in his mind. Reborn smirked slightly.

"Pineapple-head and Skylark started it." Gokudera spat out, trying to untense his muscles. In fact several of the guardians were having trouble in their attempts to (at the very least) appear relaxed. Hibari and Mukuro didn't respond to their verbally said 'nicknames' due to the mutual want to be far far away. Reborn mentally laughed at the lot of them.

"Damages, and people involved, injured, and killed. Now." The don demanded. Reborn pulled popcorn out of nowhere. 

"Three walls broken, all Guardians but Chrome, some scratches, none." Gokudera listed off.

Tsuna took a breath and released it. "Okay, that's good that no one was hurt." Tsuna announced. "Much better then usual." The brunette muttered under his breath despairingly. 

Leon grabbed a piece of popcorn with his tongue. The hitman mentally shrugged, the chameleon had eaten worse things (that would have killed any other chameleon,) before.

"Everyone who fought splits the paperwork, you know the rules. Reborn...carte blanche to enforcement, have fun.~ My love to everyone, I need to go." Tsuna hung up.

Everyone else in the video chat looked at Reborn. His face, or at least what they could see of it, was pokerfaced. Then it turned upwards into a dark smirk.

That day was a day that would give the Guardians mild physical injuries, a reinstated fear of Reborn, and hand pain from writing signatures on mountains of paperwork.

The new staff of Vongola was scarred by the events that happened. The old staff simply sighed, steadfastly ignored the hitman, and the mothering types nagged the Guardians to eat and clean up. (One brave old lady called Mary Rosan looked at Reborn said he needed to eat something, and made him a three course Italian meal. The hitman actually smiled, thanked the lady, and proceeded to lightly praise the food as he ate. Reborn's shared several cups of coffee with the lady in later weeks).

 

The Varia had planned to have a visit. They were marching up to the gates of Vongola mansion when Xanxus got a text. 

Lions4ever to VariaQuality (As a joke once, Tsuna changed Xanxus's name to VariaQualityTrash, he barely got out of that one alive.):V Guardians destroyed some of V Mansion. 

VariaQuality to Lions4ever:So?

Lions4ever to VariaQuality:Tuna granted Reborn carte blanche today.

VariaQuality to Lions4ever:...

Nevermind, they could push the meeting to next week. Anything to avoid a Reborn that's been granted free reign.

 

Omake

One thing Xanxus never questioned was how Iemitsu knew what happened. The man was annoyingly like Reborn in seeming to know things he shouldn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to nightray and icefox94 for commenting  
> Icefox94:That’s the joke, they’re some of the most harmless animals alive.  
> -Silver


	11. Left and Right

Tsuna stopped and looked down the hallway. His intuition tingled. He stepped out well out of the way of the snare that dangled above. The brunette frowned as he felt that someone would get caught in it, but at least whoever it was wouldn't suffer any real harm accordingly to his HI. He continued walking, whistling a tune under his breath.

"Lovro," was his sole word to the assassin. Lovro nodded towards him. "Tsunayoshi di Vongola." Was the quiet reply.

Lovro was an old acquaintance of Reborn. Or as much of an acquaintance as you could be with both parties being who they are. Reborn and Lovro had worked together and against each other several times. Usually, top killers stayed out of each other's business as much as possible (death matches never end well).

The don stepped into the lounge. Irina groaned and complained. Karasuma gave a silent sigh and started trying to encourage her. Tsuna sat down in one of the chairs and sipped at his warm coffee (he'd secretly use flames to reheat his coffee to keep it the right temperature).

The octopus was drinking tea and staring at the female teacher's chest. The former assassin did not notice the growing annoyance and anger of the person next to him. And what a mistake it was.

"Korosensei, I suggest you stop staring at her. Especially since it's that area." Bloodlust was pouring out from the brotherly brunette.

The octopus stopped and looked at the 'hitman'. The moment two pair of beady and orange tinged brown eyes connected, Korosensei started sweating buckets. 'I feel like I'm dying from lack of air' Korosensei commented mentally with horror. Karasuma glanced at Tsunayoshi before responding to Irina.

Karasuma and Irina continued to argue. Finally, the women had enough and left. The brunette's choking aura vanished.

"Well...I'm off to Shanghai for some almond jelly. It's been a while since I've had some." Korosensei rapidly said and then flew off.

The other male teacher raised an eyebrow at the currently blithe looking brunette. A large cheerful smile was the response to Karasuma's dubious stare.

'Tsunayoshi Yoshi, the 'saintly hitman'. He's much more frightening and deadly then he seems. What makes him dangerous is not just from his abilities regarding killing...Five minutes is all that's needed for him to become a 'trusted friend' of almost anyone. His double edged sword of choice, both his weakness and strength is the lengths he goes to for the ones he cares for.' Karasuma thought.

Karasuma reflected upon the new side of Tsuna had displayed. Korosensei reflected on the fact that he'd need to stop or at the very least tone down his perviness towards the female teacher. Or else Tsunayoshi might actually start trying to kill him. He doubted it would be a quick and painless death.

 

The time passed slowly for the two teachers in the lounge. "This sounds random, but what's your favorite color?" Tsuna asked. He was bored out of his mind by paperwork.

Karasuma almost snorted. "It does sound random." The raven agreed. "I'd say mine is grey, what's yours?"

"Amber. That specific shade hot caramel is."

If one were to walk in on this conversation, it would sound like twenty questions:non personal edition. Family, friends, pasts, and all questions to do with them were silently agreed upon to be unacceptable and cast away. Favorite European and Asian foods, tv shows, and similar topics were discussed.

Unfortunately their comradey came to an end with a barely heard gasp. The two teachers jumped out of their seats and rushed to the hallway.

Irina had been caught in a noose. A fifty or so years old man stood in the hallway.

"What's going on here? This is your only warning pal, let her go ." Karasuma stated. The raven motioned with a finger for the man to get Irina down.

"Don't worry about it. She knows how to handle herself." The man replied, his voice unflinchingly as steel.

Irina took out a pocket knife and cut the rope. She fell to the ground and coughed.

"Right...Have we met each other or is it just me?" Karasuma questioned.

"We haven't met in person. But you know my reputation. I do freelance work for government. As a matter of fact I'm the guy who arranged to bring Irina Jelavich into the mix. I'm a Human Resources man." The man replied.

'Lovro the assassin, one of the most dangerous men who's ever lived. Although now retired. Trains assassins and books gigs for them all over the world. He makes a killing, no pun intended. At a crucial moment he came through for us. Jelavich is his protege. But why is he here now?' Karasuma pondered (and thus gave exposition to the audience).

Tsuna brushed past Karasuma. The teacher paid him no heed. They had firmly established that they were the sane staff members. Lovro met the don's gaze squarely as only minutes before. The amber eyes of Tsuna narrowed but turned elsewhere and went back to a earthy color.

"Does this Korosensei fellow happen to be near?" Lovro asked.

"I think he's in Shanghai picking up some almond jelly. Left about a half hour ago, should be back any minute." The government agent informed.

Irina accepted the hand up from the sanguine looking Tsunayoshi.

"So, rumors of his speed haven't been exaggerated." Lovro concluded. "Well, glad I came when I did. You run along home Irina I'll take it from here. It's clear you're out of your depth."

The blond gaped.

"Don't get me wrong. On undercover jobs you are the best. Once your cover is blown however, well let's face it, you're no Charlotte Corday.

"You have to give me a chance, sir. I can do this." Irina begged.

Lovro seemed to almost teleport behind the woman. Irina gasped. Beside them, Tsuna tensed up. The don had almost blocked the man but decided against it.

'He's fast.' Karasuma warily noted. The retired assassins held the woman's hands behind her back with a vise like grip. Irina struggled to pull her hands away, but she was too weak.

"What have I always taught you? Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. A good assassin knows when to go home." Lovro lectured.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes. 'He has a point for the short term situation, but long term it's going to be bad for Irina.'

Two tentacles each landed on the heads of the arguing assassins. The octopus's face was half red and half purple.

"Congratulations. You're exactly half wrong and half right." Korosensei exclaimed.

The stunned two assassins looked at the octopus in confusion.

"Hey, cool it game show host." Karasuma said.

"Another ridiculous nickname?! Are you determined to never call me Korosensei?" The aforementioned named octopus asked irately. Tsuna coughed and drew the attention of the room (aka the hallway).

"...thinking of your 'name'. Can I just call you Koro? It feels really weird to call you teacher." Tsuna requested awkwardly.

"Since I'm calling you Tsuna, it would be fair." The octopus placed a tentacle under his 'chin' in thought. "Alright! You can call me Koro."

Tsuna mentally jumped for joy. His reports home would now be a lot less awkward.

"It's you." Lovro stated and titled his head to look at the octopus.

"Looks like we have another Captain Obvious." Tsuna mumbled. Karasuma's lips twitched.

"I agree. As an assassin, Irina is nothing special. Frankly, she's horrible." Korosensei agreed.

"No one was asking you!" Irina shouted with anger.

"Having said that, she belongs here. She is a perfect fit for this class. To prove my point, I propose a kill off. Let us see who passes muster. Who is the better assassin?" Korosensei cross his tentacles at the end to make an X.

"The rules are simple. Whoever kill our friends, Mr. Tsuna-" Korosensei was cut off.

"I do apologize for my interruption, I'm not participating in this game." Tsuna stated, his voice barred no argument. He did not fancy geting 'fake killed' by anyone nor having to guard Karasuma all day.

"Whoever kills our friend Mr. Karasuma first is the winner!" Korosensei continued on as if he had not been interrupted.

"Excuse me, why am I the target here all of a sudden?" Karasuma asked with annoyance.

"It has to be you silly, I'm unkillable, and Tsuna has refused to play." Korosensei answered.

Karasuma sighed resignedly.

"Here, you have all day tomorrow." Korosensei announced.

Korosensei handed the two assassin rubber knives. He used two napkins to stop his tentacles from melting.

"I see. It's to be a pretend assassination." Lovro stated. The man chuckled. "Why not, there are worse ways to pass time." The assassin said as he strolled away.

"Suit yourself." Karasuma said with a sigh and walked off. Tsuna shook his head and followed the agent to the teacher's lounge. The brunette had an unfortunate amount of paperwork today.

Tsuna glanced back down the hallway as Irina yelled at the octopus. He wasn't going to interrupt that. He'd take paperwork over an angry woman any day. 

 

It was Home Ec. Class. And today was a large step in remodeling the classroom.

The students were spread out across the walls. Sosuke Sugaya was the student who acted as commander in charge on this project.

Currently, Maehara was having trouble with how to make his strokes strop having large globs of paint as a byproduct. "Oh, like this? Thanks for the help, man." Maehara said. "No problem, don't mention it." Sosuke replied with a smile.

Tsuna had rolled up his sleeves and joined in as well. He took care of the foot or so that the students couldn't reach even with the help of the step ladder.

The cracks in the walls disappeared with caulk and a new coat of paint.

"Ahh, Tsuna-sensei? Can we open the windows?" Sosuke asked.

"Yes, please go ahead and do that class." Tsuna replied.

"Hey Teach, you look like you've planned something else." Karma said.

"Yes, I do. We've done the walls and opened the windows. Class, please go line up in the hallway. I'll go call our fan." Tsuna smirked at the last part.

The students were confused. Fan? What fan would be large enough to be able to dry a room quickly?

Tsuna stepped into the hallway. Behind him, the students filed out while talking. 

 

"Ah, Koro! There you are." Tsuna called out. The yellow octopus was about to enter the lounge.

"Hello Tsuna! Do you need something?" The ocotopus was suddenly in front of the brunette. To a regular eye, he would have been a yellow blur, but to Tsuna's trained eyes the octopus could be seen with minor difficulty.

"Yes, I do actually. The classroom has been painted, but the paint will take a while to dry. And while it does it will be a hazard to the children's uniforms. Do you mind drying it for us?" Tsuna requested.

"Not at all! It will take me a minute or two, and I can also get rid of lots of toxic fumes that could harm my students. It's a teacher's job to care, help, and protect after all." Korosensei was suddenly gone. The sound of the classroom door opening and closing was clearly heard and felt by the students lined up near the door.

 

"What was that?" Rio asked. "Was that Korosensei?" Nagisa asked. "Who else could it be?" Kayano responded. "We found out that sentient octopuses are possible, who knows what else is out there." Karma said with a shrug. 

 

Tsuna casually strolled down the hallway to the classroom. The conversation between students died down as the teacher got closer.

"Maa, it's okay. It's okay for you all to talk in the hallway." The students smiled at their teacher and continued to chatter.

Tsuna leaned against the wall and waited. Through the absolutely not soundproofed walls, Korosensei could be heard zipping around and humming to himself.

 

"Ready, everyone?" The teacher asked with a smile. A chorus of 'yes's responded without hesitation.

Tsuna slid the classroom door open and led the way inside.

Several of the students gasped. The classroom looked great. Somehow the floor and ceiling had also been redone as well. The desks had been taken back inside and placed in their usual rows.

And wait, what is that yellow thing sitting at the front of the room on a blanket? It's surrounded by souvenirs from Tokyo and snacks...?

The students gaped at the sight. Tsuna facepalmed.

"Eat up, kids! One of each item!" Korosensei proclaimed. The kids stampeded onto the blanket

Korosensei quickly ran out of the crowd and hid behind Tsuna. Tsuna gave the octopus an exasperated look.

"I may have gone overboard." Korosensei admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah, you 'may have.'" Tsuna replied sarcastically.

 

After the feeding frenzy had calmed down some, Tsuna decided to continue the lesson. 'Lesson' being rather loosely applied at this point.

"Did you all have fun, or was it boring?" Tsuna asked.

"I just have one question. Did you all learn anything?" Tsuna asked, a grin on his face.

"Kayano." Tsuna said, the girl sat at her desk with a excited look and her hand up.

"Old newspapers are useful for a lot of art projects." The girl declared. Sosuke nodded in agreement.

"And how about...Karma?" Tsuna asked. The redhead had a hand lazily raised.

"Brushes can be good weapons, and paint in someone's eyes is both blinding and painful." Karma said with a smirk.

The rest of the class was split into either horror or exasperation. "What?" Karma asked innocently. Nakamura grinned and the rest of the class shot the red head with exasperated stares.

The class ended with smiles and good natured jokes. Tsuna grinned as he walked out the door. Today's class had gone well.

 

 

It was close to the end of the school day when Tsuna felt a jolt from his HI. The don jumped up, ran down the hall and stalked though throuch the class door.

The students stood scattered among the large windows. Korosensei watched the scene from the front of the room.

The class and yellow teacher had stopped to watch the scene outside.

Tsuna stepped inside and walked over to a window. A smile broke out on his face at the sight.

Irina had launched a stealth attack against Karasuma.

The assassin had managed to land on top of the man and struggled to press the knife against his chest. The two were stuck in a deadlock before Irina broke out the puppy dog eyes.

Karasuma seemed to resign himself and dropped his arms. Irina pressed the plastic knife against him then got off and grinned.

The assassin trotted back inside in high spirits. The agent went back inside with a low reseverve of tolerance for hogwash that week.

 

Irina had to go into the lounge to grab her bag. "High five?" Tsuna asked with his hand held up. The assassin raised an eyebrow at the gesture but highfived him.

"How many Americans do you know?" The assassin questioned.

"A lot." Tsuna replied wryly.

"On another note, you did a great job. Especially with that wire trap, it threw Karasuma off guard." Tsuna said with a smile. "Thank you. You know I could do better if-" Irina boasted. Tsuna put his hands over his face and groaned. 'I forgot about her ego...'

 

My thanks to icefox94, pockylatte, nightray (from Archive of our own) for commenting. 

A special shoutout to HayashiRina18 from Wattpad. This guy correctly guessed who's who for usernames in the last chapter.

'Cowsrmylife is Lambo, ClassicalRap is Hayato, Seafood&Swords is Takeshi (Yamamoto), Illusionmast3r is Mukuro, WMDforlife is Hibari, BestDayEver is Ryohei, Illusionmast3r2 is Chrome, EspressoforDays is Reborn, Lions4ever is Iemitsu and VariaQuality is Xanxus.'

A shoutout to Naliyu from fanfiction.net who correctly got that the WMD in WMDforlife means 'weapon of mass destruction.'

A shoutout to Nor.Cal.NEH who actually had the time to google the animals in chapter 9.  
-Silver


	12. Umbrellas and Walls

Karasuma sat in the teacher lounge. His laptop placed in front of him on a desk.

To T. Karasuma 

From Special Service Headquarters 

'Your second transfer student will arrive on 6/15. No need for detailed discussions in advance; comply with his attendant's wishes. 

This is our longest awaited favorite.'

Karasuma typed in his reply.

To Special Service Headquarters 

From T. Karasuma

'Understood.'

Tsuna was grievously later then usual today. Luckily, his class was much later on in the day.

It was raining today, that was rarely a good sign. 

Tsuna stopped at the beginning of the main path. The water had turned the main mountain path into mud and swamp. Small patches of weeds and trees roots provided the only clean steps available.

It'll take longer, but he'd take the over grown path instead. He rather be late then have to pick his way through the muck.

Tsuna strode through the wet plants that most gardeners would call weeds. Small blue flowers and purple star shaped flowers were inevitably crushed under his shoes. 

Tsuna looked behind him and frowned. Small blotches of ruined greenery lay behind him. 

"It's a shame to destroy such a pretty scene." Tsuna said softly. But he continued on. He had a destination, a place where he had to be. 

The birds huddled together in nests, holes, and on tree branches to stay dry. No brave animal dared venture out in the morning downpour.

The pitter patter of rain hit the child's cheek. It was as if the sky cried for the child, because he did not know to cry for himself. 

The rain was always immediately whipped away by unforeseen hands. The child payed the rain no mind aside from keeping dry.

The pitter patter of rain was there, but suddenly it was more distant. The child looked up. 

A man held a clear umbrella over himself and the child. His brunette locks were tugged to and fro by the breeze. 

"Why are you here?" Tsuna asked. He held back a flinch at the waxy orbs. 

The child's eyes were stagnant as he stated, "I'm waiting for my guardian."

Tsuna didn't like this. His instincts screamed that the child was both dangerous and harmless. The white hair and the dry state of the child were unnatural.

But it was the eyes that disturbed the Don. He had never seen such dead eyes on anyone but the most condemned mafioso at the hands of merciless interrogators. Not a single flicker of hope. The eyes did not belong on anyone, least of all on a child.

"What is your name?" Tsuna asked calmly. He had kept a straight face while watching bloody power plays and assassination carried out before him. He would not be afraid because of a child...but he would take no shame in being afraid for a child.

"Itona Horibe." The white haired child stated, as if that explained everything. Perhaps it did, with certain information. 

"Where do you come from?" Tsuna continued on. "I do not know." The child answered as blankly as before.

The conversation had run it's course dry, regardless of the surrounding weather. There was only one more question for Tsuna to ask. "Do you want my umbrella?" 

The child blinked in surprise, as if it the question was unusually odd. It was slightly out of left field Tsuna admitted, but the response was what he was searching for.

"No. I can keep myself dry." Itona stated.

It was with that odd choice of answer that Tsuna sighed and left well enough alone...for now.

After his bad start to the day, Tsuna wanted to go into the teacher lounge and sleep until his class.

But that was not to be, Tsuna's HI acted up strongly as he stepped into E Class's building. For some reason, things seemed to be happening today.

At the incessant poking of his HI, Tsuna made his way down the hallway towards the classroom.

A man in white stood outside in the hallway. Tsuna stopped in front of the man.

Tsuna mentally mused as to the mysterious person's identity. The person was around 173cm (5'8 ft), had white skin (a small triangle of white skin was visible when the person shifted), and no other features of the person could be could be seen. The fabric that all of the person's attire was made of seemed strangely familiar to Tsuna. 

"I am Shiro." The person stated in a male voice, as if that explained everything. Tsuna mentally threw his hands up in frustration as he started to notice a 'wonderful' pattern to the new people who kept showing up today. The new assassins just keep getting weirder, Tsuna would bet that there'd be someone who belonged in an asylum by the end of this. (He'd regret thinking that last part.)

Outwardly, Tsuna merely nodded and kept his silence. 

Shiro stepped into the classroom.

'I want to go to the teacher lounge...and sleep. But no...because of my darn HI. My personal annoying  alarm clock.' Tsuna mentally groused as he followed Shiro into the classroom.

'Okay...somebody likes to wear white.' 'He's kinda tall for a kid.' Two students thought to themselves.

Tsuna brushed past Shiro and stood near where Korosensei usually stood.

Shiro held out his hand. A puff of smoke burst from Shiro's gloved hand and a dove appeared. Shiro cheerfully laughed.

"Sorry, everyone, I didn't mean to startle you. I can see you're confused, I'm not your new classmate. I'm just his guardian. But let's not stand on ceremony, call me Shiro."

"I don't know what's creepier, a guy in all white or a guy in all white doing magic." Kayano muttered.

Nagisa's eyes were wide with shock. "Yeah. That entrance even freaked out Korosens-" Nagisa looked up and cut off his sentence. 

The octopus had turned to his liquid form and fled to a ceiling corner.

"Oh, come on, give us a break! That scared you enough for you to use the liquid trick?!" A student yelled.

"My imagination just ran a little wild after Ritsu's story. That's all." Korosensei's voice was a bit garbled from his liquid state.

'Korosensei's weak points #15:Falls for rumors'

Nagisa shook his head and looked to the other teacher in the room. 'Why is Tsuna-sensei here? He looks like he's annoyed about something?' Nagisa thought.

Korosensei dropped to the floor and returned to his regular form. "Nice to meet you Mr. Shiro. And when might we be uhhh able to meet your ward?"

"It's an honor Korosensei. Apologies for my ward, as you called him, being late for class. I beg your patience, he'll be here in due course, when the time is right."

Shiro walked to the front of the class. 'Not much for straight answers is he.' Nagisa observed. 'Huh?' Nagisa thought as Shiro stopped walking and turned his head towards Nagisa's.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes. "Something wrong?" Korosensei asked Shiro.

"Oh, no, not at all. It seems an interesting group. I'm confident he'll fit in perfectly. " Shiro responded. 

"Allow me to introduce him. Now, Itona, come!" Shiro  declared. 

A pregnant pause happened as thoose other then Shiro looked around the room for Itona.

Suddenly, the back wall of the classroom burst inward. Itona strode through the hole in the wall and took his seat. 

Tsuna gaped and almost cried at the sight. 

Tsuna was reminded of his Guardian's tendency to destroy Vongola HQ and former tendency to not use doors ('former' due to three days on ice).

Then he remembered the work spent recently on redoing the classroom.

 He couldn't forget the confident and cherry faces of his students when they had seen the remodeled classroom. (And the paint that had cost him a few pretty pennies.)

"Victory is mine. I have proven myself stronger then the classroom wall." Itona stated.

"Come on! Use the door next time!" All of E class and Tsuna shouted with annoyance.

"Only strength matters. Everything else is worthless." Shiro stated.

'Awesome, he's going to be a jerk.' Ryoma thought.

'Even Korosensei is unsure how to react.' Nagisa observed. 

'Is that a smile or is he cringing?' Sugino thought.

Korosensei's face was cut halfway between his usual smile and a grimace.

'I don't think theres a name for that face!' Sugino mentally exclaimed.

'Tsuna-sensei looks like he wants to bang his head against the wall.' Karma thought with a chuckle.

"I give you, Itona Horibe. Or if you prefer, just Itona." Shiro said.

'A guardian in all white. And a transfer student that's impossible to read. Something tells me we're in for stormy weather.' Nagisa predicted. 

'I'm really waiting for the other shoe to drop. Hopefully it'll be soon.' Tsuna sighed. 

"Hey, new kid. Mind if I ask you a question?" Karma asked. The rest of the students looked at Karma. 

"You came in from the rain without an umbrella. It's coming down in buckets out there. And there's not a drop in you. What's the story with that?" Karma laid out his thoughts.

Tsuna smirked slightly. 'Good detective work Karma.'

Itona stood. "You're the strongest one in this class aren't you?" Itona walked over and placed his hand on Karma's head. " You don't need to worry. You're still weaker then me. And that's means you get to live." 'Thanks.' Karma sarcastically thought. "You're beneath my skill." Itona said. 

Itona took his hand away from Karma's head. Karma passively turned his head to the front. The redhead felt someone's eyes on him. Karma flicked his eyes to the right, Tsuna blinked and nodded at Karma. 'What, are you congratulating me on my self control?' Karma guessed. Tsuna's smirk grew, as if he could hear Karma's thoughts.

"And I kill fight people who are stronger then me. And in this case Korosensei, that's you." Itona declared. Korosensei casually ate a chocolate bar.

Karma raised an eyebrow at Tsuna. 'I'd almost be scared if there's a teacher that can read thoughts.' Tsuna winked at Karma. 'My face is just expressive, right?' Karma thought. Tsuna nodded sagely.

"Well. I'll see all of you later." Tsuna excused himself with a wave as he walked out of the classroom.

Tsuna didn't care anymore. Koro could handle it as usual. So could his HI just...stop? Tsuna frowned. His HI kept stabbing at him, but he ignored it.

"Ah. I believe I'm starting to get a clear picture of your MO. Well, look no further. I'm stronger then you by a whole order of magnitude." Korosensei gloated.

"Yeah, sure." Itona said apathetically. The student was checking his pockets for something. Itona finally found what he was looking for, a chocolate bar. "Not so much. Truth is, we're actually brothers."

'HUH????' All of E Class yelled. Scenes sprung to the students minds, Korosensei and Itona as babies,  Korosensei and Itona as Goku and Vegeta, etc. 'Brothers?!' 

Itona bit off the wrapper to open up his chocolate bar. Itona pointed the chocolate bar at Korosensei, as if Itona was a knight threatening his soon to be opponent. "Winner takes all, loser dies, big bro."

"Gugughhgh." Korosensei said. Itona slowly walk to the classrooom door. "We siblings have to keep it real. No tricks, just the two of us. After school, we face off in this classroom." Itona said and slide the door shut.

E Class waited a few seconds (whether from shock or waiting until Itona and Shiro can't hear, I don't know) and promptly flipped. "What is going on, sir?!" "Why didn't you tell us you were brothers?!" "How can an octopus and a person come from the same mom?!"

"I have no idea! That boy was clearly confused! I was raised an only child!" Korosensei protested.

Tsuna sighed with relief as his HI stopped annoying him. He wished the day was over already. But it had barely begun.

The teachers lounge was a good reflection of the weather outside. In other words, it was dismal and slightly cold.

Tsuna always hated the rain. But after many years, many missions in which he'd ended up soaking wet and getting a cold, and many good times spent with his friend Takeshi, Tsuna had only slightly changed his mind. 

Irina disliked for two reasons.  One because the rain because it meant she couldn't wear whatever she wanted. And two, the rain reminded her of things she'd much rather forget entirely.

Karasuma was neutral in his opinion of the weather. There were pros and cons to sunny and rainy days. It was harder to track some one outside when it rained, and it was harder to be tracked. It mattered little to him on a personal level.

It was dismal in the teachers lounge. But the rain is not the reason for the quiet and nerves inside the room. The reason is one man covered in white.

Shiro laughed. He was reading an issue of Shonen jump. 

'Is this Itona kid telling the truth? Or is this story just some kind of tactic to shake up his target?' Karasuma wondered. Irina sat on the other side of the table and Tsuna sat in the corner opposite Shiro.

Shiro looked over at Irina and Karasuma. "Hmm? I apologize for throwing you off Mr. Karasuma. It was necessary to keep my ward's existence classified. Unfortunately that meant that you had to be kept in the dark." 

Tsuna glanced at the window as it thundered outside.

"Unprobable as it may seem though, I can guarantee they are in fact, brothers. Their little contest after school this afternoon will leave no room for doubt." Shiro said.

The silence in the lounge dragged on.

Tsuna checked the time on his phone and mentally breathed a sigh of relief. It was time for him to teach.

The other occupants of the room watched as Tsuna walked across the room. "It's my turn to teach." Tsuna said cheerfully and opened the lounge door.

After a quick breath, Tsuna stepped into the classroom. 

"Ah, Tsuna, I just finished up." Korosensei said and started to make his way out of the classroom.

"Good luck in the teacher lounge Koro. It's a bunch of wet blankets in there." Tsuna muttered under his breath to Korosensei. "Thanks for the heads up." Korosensei attempted to surreptitiously mutter back. 

'We know you're whispering.' The students sweat dropped. 'Yeah, seriously. Korosensei trying to talking out of the corner of his mouth doesn't work when he's normally smiling like an idiot. It's easy to see that something is off.'

"Hey class." Tsuna declared, a small smile cemented on his face. "Hello Tsuna-sensei." The students replied with smiles.

"This day has been weird and hard for the class, staff included. So I decided to move up a fun project I was going to have you guys do later."

The school day had ended. And so the match would soon begin. The school desks had been arranged into a square, the students stood behind.

Korosensei and Itona stood inside the cleared square.

Itona threw off his blazer to reveal his red tank top. 

"This place looks like an arena." Irina  commented. "Yeah. Fit for an honest death match." Karasuma agreed.  Itona tilted his head slightly as he stared down Korosensei. The yellow octopus grinned as he usually did.

 "It's the first time I've seen an assassin take this approach." Karasuma observed. 

"You have to be extremely confident to try going against your target straight on." Tsuna said with a tsk.

"Surely by now, you're tired with clunky over complicated attempts on your life. Let's confine ourselves to one rule, step outside the boundary and your life is forfeit, agreed?" Shiro said to Korosensei.

"Oh, yeah, sure, whatever. Like the loser's going to stick to that without any issues." Sugino dryly snarked.

"They will. Korosensei is all about how his students' see him. Remember? He'll abide by the rules out of a sense of honor. Cheating would risk throwing shade on his reputation with us." Karma reasoned to the contrary.

"Very well sir, I agree to your rule. But let us include another. Injuring any spectator also counts as a disqualification." Korosensei negotiated.

"Agreed. Commence on my signal." Shiro raised a gloved hand as he spoke.

"Assassination, begin." Shiro dropped his hand.

A yellow tentacle was quickly severed from Korosensei. All of E Class and the staff members stared in shock.

'For what seemed like an eternity, our eyes were riveted to the same thing.' Nagisa monologued. 

The yellow tentacle dropped to the floor.

'And oddly enough it wasn't our teacher's decapitated limb.' Nagisa continued to monologue, 

"Impossible. He has..." Korosensei shakily said.

'Itona... has tentacles...' Nagisa thought with shock.

'That's why he wasn't soaked, he batted off the rain drops. That-' Karma thought. He was cut off for going on a cursing streak (Tsuna had unintentionally added a lot to Karma's bad vocabulary). Karma had a slight grudge from Itona's contempt earlier. 

"Where did you get those tentacles? And why does someone like you have them? Clearly, you and I need to have a little talk." Korosensei's face was black with rage.

Tsuna's HI assured him that nothing bad was going to happen for a bit.

'I'm going to get all the winks I can.' Tsuna decided. So Tsuna leaned against the wall and tilted Reborn's fedora over his eyes.

The fight started. A high speed fight that Tsuna payed little attention to. 

Tsuna opened his eyes to peek out from under the hat when Shiro showed off his 'Korosensei weakening beam'. Tsuna closed his eyes with exasperation when Shiro continued to monologue.

Korosensei was backed into a corner by strategy, Itona's speed, and the weird light used by Shiro. 

Korosensei bantered with Shiro and then quickly turned the tables. 

Itona flew out of a classroom window and onto the wet grass. 

"Don't worry children my skin kept him perfectly safe. Technically though Itona, you're outside the boundary. In your face, I win. Nana nana boo boo, et cetera et cetera. No more trying to kill me with your guardian's help." Korosensei gloated.

"If, however, you liked to stay  and learn something with the rest of the class, we'll welcome you with open arms. Bear in mind, what you learn here can not be quantified. You are a gifted young man, but I am richer in experience. I became a teacher so as to translate that experience into something that can enrich others. The way to assassination me isn't by honing in on my weaknesses, but by absorbing my lessons." Korosensei's tone was rebuking but kind.

"Are you saying that I'm never going to be stronger then you? That I'm never going to beat you? You think that I'm weak!" Itona's wrathfully glared at Korosensei.

'Oh no. Itona is no time a fan of being lectured to. If Korosensei continues to lord his knowledge over him....genocide is in the air.' Shiro reckoned to himself.

Itona's tentacles were a midnight black. "Neh?" Korosensei questionably murmured.

"Black tentacles?" "I think he's about to go postal!" The students observed.

Tsuna's HI shocked himself, he woke up and almost fell over with all the grace of a new born foal.  Tsuna stared at the now  black tentacles that extended from Itona's hair. 'Well, that's new.'

"I am strong. These tentacles assure my victor over everyone, everyone!" Itona yelled.

Itona charged at Korosensei.

A dart flew out from Shiro's wrist and punctured the youth's skin. Itona dropped to the floor.

"Pardon us, Korosensei. My hot headed ward is not prime classroom material at the best of times. It's not lost on me that this is his first day. But a mandatory vacation is in clearly order." Shiro hoisted the unconscious Itona over his shoulder.

"Excuse me,  I can't let you walk out of here. He's my student. Until graduation, his well-being falls on me. And frankly, I have a lot of questions for you Mr. Shiro." Korosensei irately argued,

"Sorry, we're leaving." Shiro stopped walking in front of Korosensei. "Unless you care to use force." Shiro stated and strode towards the classroom door.

Korosensei placed a tentacle on Shiro's shoulder. The tentacle broke upon contact with the white material Shiro wore.

"Anti-sensei fibers, I have no intention of being restrained by you. Don't you worry my conscientious friend, he'll be back before you know it. March I should almost upon us after all. In the mean time, I'll take responsibility for his wellbeing, thank you." Shiro said, he stared at Korosensei while he spoke and then left the classroom.

Shiro looked back at the broken down building reserved for E Class. Itona hung limply over his shoulder.

Through the broken window caused by Itona's brief flight, Korosensei could be seen by Shiro.

"Such a personality. It'll hoist him by his own petard before doomsday. And those children, heh, very promising. What an unpredictable classroom...like this weather we're having today.."" Shiro  thought out loud.

Korosensei hide his face in two tentacles. "I'm so dreadfully embarrassed." 

"He's been like that for a while." "What's up with him?" The students commented.

Tsuna facepalmed at Korosensei's actions. "I'm leaving, bye everyone. If something happens, tell me about it later." Tsuna exclaimed. 

"Will do, Tsunasensei." Sugino gave a thumbs up. The rest of the students nodded and then turned their attention back to the moping octopus.

Tsuna stared up at the ceiling. He had taken off his blazer and flopped on his bed as soon as he got home.

Tsuna had three questions he wanted answered. Who is Itona? Who is Shiro? Who is Koro? How to help the situation comes after. 

But, it was a bad idea to have four side projects going. And he still had Vongola (paperwork) to take carry of after all. 

He'd have to give the Shiro job to someone, and all Vongola members are taking care of numerous jobs in Sicily. It'd be unfair to give an extra job to someone. And knowing his Guardians they'd cause property damage (paperwork), complaints (paperwork), and stress out PR (they do a great job) (but even more paperwork).

The best results also come from those best connected to the rumor vine of multiple circles. 

So someone he can trust and can get the information he needs. 'Who could that be? Who could it be?' Tsuna mused.

'Okay fine, Tsuna, stop delaying the conclusion. You know you're going to have to give her a job offer.' Tsuna paced around his apartment. 'Man up! That's right. Man up. '

'Why'd the plot have to actually start moving this chapter?!' Tsuna abruptly broke the fourth wall with his complaining. It's because this is the twelfth chapter and literally nothing has happened.  Don't be a pansy, Dame-Tsuna.  You'll probably not..die? I don't know where I was going with this.

'I'm not a pansy! I'll just call her...tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow sounds good. It's not like (Insert dramatic irony about tomorrow) or something will happen.'

Omake Author 

Hello! I'm going to explain who I am...The fourth wall was broken so I decided I may as well introduce myself (and my beta).

I'm the author and narrator of this story, Luxa Ren/Silver. Please call me Luxa or Silver (or Silvy, as some prefer). 

This is my beta, Ash. Ash says 'I say hello new frens please enjoy this story by my awesome fren please and thank you. And the question of the chapter is, would you rather have a pet penguin or a pet koala?'

Well, one possible take away theory of this omake is-

The hinges of the hall door squeaked. That's....that's not right, no one should be...?

I seem to have some uninvited guests, excuse me. People coming after me is a unfortunately common annoyance. 

I'm going to have to switch hotels again. And that is always a hassle, women's luggage is stereotypically heavy for a reason. 

The sound of guns (specifically that of my trusty Glock) being fired rang out.

Well, I'm out of bullets, there's several bodies I need to hide, I got shot in the shoulder because I was writing while fighting, and I need to switch hotels. Also Ash is going to yell at me for getting injured so I'll wait for that anxiously anticipated phone call (and yes, I am being sarcastic).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TMT returns in May!
> 
> My thanks to:  
> Wattpad:Xerneasgirl01, Naru_Saku_Sasu, Pet_Jones, chitchit246, HayashiRina18, PuppyBae123, hi_its_rip,  DeaththeGirl0711, and recielo.
> 
> Ff.net:TheLaughingStalker, Kain Vixenheim, and Naliyu.
> 
> A special thanks to all those who appreciated my lack of sleep for chapter 11.
> 
> So I have edited breakfast and a meeting so that there's a bit less of a information overload.   
> -Silver


	13. A serious game I

A/N

Note: [""] are the announcers talking.

"Okay class, last evening I cut new wood for the wall. You all are going to help me put the wood in, place the drywall on, and paint it. Fortunately, we had paint left over from last time." Tsuna explained to the class.

"Hey Tsuna-sensei, why are we fixing the wall? Couldn't Korosensei do it by himself?" Maehara asked. 

Tsuna sighed. "He said he could do it, and not to worry." The teacher started to explain. A picture of a confident octopus formed in the students's minds.

"And, then he found out how much it costs." Tsuna continued with another sigh.

The image in the student's minds changed. A nervous octopus showed his empty wallet, bowed quickly, and ran away

'Yeah...that seems right. Korosensei is a cheapskate.' The class collectively thought.

"So I'm footing the bill for materials and turning it into a home ec. project." Tsuna finished his story.

"And you're having your class do the labor so you don't have to pay anyone. That's clever." Karma teased with a smirk.

Tsuna smiled, bemused. "I don't know whether to take your compliment as a good thing or a bad thing."

The students that had the same problem with Karma's compliments, chuckled.

XXX

Sugino, Karma, and Nagisa were walking together after school.

"The bad weather is over!" Sugino exclaimed.

"It's going to get hot soon." Nagisa commented.

"Let's start spending more time outside, I want to be more active." Sugino said.

"Sounds good, you know I'm in." Nagisa agreed.

"What would the two of you say to some fishing?" Karma suggested.

"Fishing? That sounds like it would be fun, what's in season?" Nagisa asked.

Devil horns and a tail pop up behind Karma. "In the summer months, delinquents are out in droves. Use Nagisa as bait, there's no telling how many of the b******* we can shake down." The red head explained with a grin.

"I didn't realize delinquents had a season." Nagisa said with a sweatdrop.

"Seriously though, let's do something today!" Sugino complained.

"There's always the beach." Nagisa commented.

The three stopped and looked at the baseball team that practiced behind a tall chain link fence.

"Play hard today." A girl by the fence encouraged.

The baseball team captain, Kazutaka Shindo threw an amazing fastball, it thudded into the catcher's mitt. He looked over at the fence.

"Hey, hey. Look who it is. Long time no see, Sugino." Shindo said.

"Wow, check it out guys!" One guy declared. "Sugino!" "How's it going, man?" "Sup, dude?"

The baseball team came over to the fence. "Hey." Sugino said and walked over.

"Way to never come by and say 'hello' to your old team mates." One teen teased.

"Yeah, I know. I suck." Sugino joked back.

"You're pitching in the big tournament, right?" One baseball member asked.

Sugino smiled. "Well, I haven't decided on it yet. But I'd sure like to."

"It'd sure be epic if you did." One guy declared and put his fist against the fence. Sugino grinned and fist bumped his old friend. "Yeah." Sugino agreed.

"You have no idea how jealous we are of you, man." One commented.

Sugino raised his eyebrows, confused.

"You get to be in E-Class, goofing off all day." Another elaborated.

The raven had a shocked look on his face. Sugino had the uncomfortable realization that his old team didn't know, about Korosensei, the assassination, the high stakes, the training Karasuma was putting E-Class through...

"We got to hit the books and practice like our lives depend on it, blows." One guy said.

Sugino frowned.

"Hey, come on, be nice. Don't make such a big deal about it, he won't understand. Burning the candle at both ends is a privilege of the gifted." Shindo stepped into the conversation.

"Humility, much? Sounds to me like someone thinks they're a chosen one." Karma sarcastically observed.

Shindo chuckled. "Ha, I am. You don't believe me? Fine, see how you feel after watching me in the tournament. There's great and everybody else, now guess which I am? That's just the way things are, I don't make the rules." The captain and his team gave off a confident aura.

Sugino, Karma, and Nagisa frowned.

XXX

"Aha, a friendly class verse class baseball tournament, ey? A healthy body promotes a healthy mind. Approved." Korosensei agreed to the proposition with a grin.

The yellow octopus then sweatdropped and pulled out the school bracket. "Except, uh, I noticed that E-Class is not included in the tournament bracket."

"They leave us out to keep things nice and even. It's hard to have a tournament with an odd number of teams. We get to play the exhibition game at the end though, so there's that." A student explained.

Exhibition game:E-Class vs Baseball club

"It's a spectacle, basically. We get split up by gender, pitted against the men's baseball and women's basketball team. While everyone watches." The student continued his exposition.

"So it isn't exactly, a consolation prize." Korosensei concluded.

Kataoka shook her head. "Nope."

"If you dweebs want to be a laughingstock, fine. But me and the boys have too much self-respect. We're out." Terasaka declared and walked out with his group.

"Hey, hold on a second you can't just, oh fine." Yuma stated with annoyance.

"We should ask Sugino for pointers, he's the baseball guy. What do you say man? Any tips?" Maehara asked. E-Class turned to the resident baseball expert.

Sugino sighed, his hands fidgeting with a baseball. "Not to be negative. But we're screwed. Like, royally. The Kunugigaoka team has Shindo as their captain. Dude can throw a fastball like nobody's business. High schools are already scouting him. It's not even fair. Not going to lie though, I'd give anything to beat them. And not just put up a good fight, I want to beat the arrogant S** at his own game. Baseball is my first love, my life. It took getting kicked off the team to understand that. The odds aren't in our favor, but-" Sugino ended his depressed but determined monologue when he looked at Korosensei.

The yellow octopus had painted his face white with black marks to represent stitches. A green twig was in his mouth, a black hat that said 'kill' sat atop his head, and Korosensei was dressed in baseball uniform. In his many arms, he held a baseball, a bat, a glove, and a plastic megaphone.

"Swing batter, batter, swing, batter!" Korosensei loudly declared.

"Oh, right. I forgot that you don't need much persuading when it comes to anything baseball." Sugino blankly stated.

Korosensei laughed. "I've wanted to be the feisty no nonsense coach in a sports flick since forever! Don't worry, I won't push you kids around. But I brought a table to flip!" The octopus held up a table with food on it.

"You put a lot of thought into this." A student observed with surprise.

"I've watched all of you grow more focused on what direction you'd like to head in, lately. And it's been marvelous. Whatever the odds, the name of the game is always 'Kill! Win!'. And to reward that fighting spirit, Coach Koro will teach you a strategy guaranteed secure to our victory!" Korosensei enthusiastically said, with a grin.

XXX

["Whoah-ho! It's a high one! And the center fielder practically catches it with his eyes closed. Game over, folks! The winner of the thud year baseball tournament is A-Class!"]

Two guys sat in the dugout.

"This really blows. Why do we even play?"

"I know. The exhibition game outta get out minds off it."

"Nothing like watching real losers getting beat."

"Oh, this is going to be a riot.

The two nerds chuckled.

XXX

["Alright, time for the exhibition game. E-Class vs the Kunugigaoka baseball team."] The announcer stated.

The two teams lined up.

"Only the chosen ones get bragging rights, my friend. Remember that victory goes to the player with the most skill, on the field and in the classroom. So, not a lot of hope from you. But whatever, good luck." Shindo stated to Sugino and walked away.

Sugino frowned.

XXX

"Holy c***. Why are they so fired up all of a sudden?" Maehara observed the baseball team's shout of enthusiasm.

"Even better question, where's our coach? What he supposed to teach us his method?" Sosuke asked.

"He's over there." Nagisa said and pointed out into the baseball field.

"Mr. Karasuma told him he can't draw attention to himself. So he's using forced perspective to look like a baseball. He'll signal us with the color of his face."

Korosensei's head poked out of the grace. His face was covered in a white and black baseball partner, with a small black hat on top.

"Oh yeah, real smooth." Sosuke sarcastically commented.

Korosensei popped down, changed the color of his face, and topped back up.

Green, purple, and orange. The teacher repeated the pattern twice.

"So, what did that mean?" Sugino sweatdropped and asked Nagisa.

"Hiya teach! Great disguise." Karma joked and waved to the octopus.

The octopus panicked for a second, as students at the fence looked for who the red head called out to. In a split second, Korosensei disappeared. Karma laughed.

Navies pulled out his notebook and flipped through it. "Kill the opposition." The blue haired teen declared the translation.

The boys 'huh'd. "Good advice. Treat the other team like our target and we can't go wrong. This will be excellent practice for when we finally assassinate Korosensei, right?" Isogai confidently said.

"Right." Sugino agreed.

"Let's do this!" "Yeah!"

Korosensei chuckled. "Okay, boys and girls, let's give our opponents a taste of what I like to call assassination baseball." The octopus exclaimed.

XXX

["Okay folks. Top of the first inning. Let's see what the first pitch has in store."]

Justice was up to bat. The ball whizzed past him. "Strike!"

The two nerds from earlier stood by the fence.

"D***, that pitcher's throw comes at you like a bullet train."

"His top speed is something like 140."

"Whoa, like kilometers per hour? That's right up there with the pros!"

"Is it me, or does it feel like a c***** away game?" Justice despondently observed.

Red, purple, pink, Korosensei signalled with a grin.

The batter smiled. 'Roger that.' "Let's go! Hit me!" Justice yelled.

["Oh no, nobody say that batter

doesn't have attitude."] The announcer commentated.

The coach of the baseball team, Kiyoshi Terai mused his predictions out loud. "We'll strike out three batters at the top of the first. At the bottom, we'll get three runs and it's called."

'Piece of cake.' Shindo thought. "There it is!" The announcer said in excitement.

Justice neatly bunted the baseball and ran.

["What?! It's a bunt! Unbelievable!"] The announcer yelled in surprise.

"Kimura is the fastest runner on E-Class. Now that our opponents are caught off gaurd, first base is his."

By the time someone had picked up the ball, Justice safely crossed first base.

"Sneaky little creeps." Shindo sneered.

["Who saw that coming? E-Class has zero outs and first base."]

["Batter number two, Shiota."] A female voice introduced over the speakers. The bluenette stood at home plate.

Yellow, green, white, Korosensei signalled.

Shindo threw. Nagisa hit the ball.

["Holy cow, a push bunt."] The announcer exclaimed.

Korosensei snickered. "They're good, but they're still just junior high students. Even pros get discombobulated by bunts."

["Runners on first and second!"] The reporter announced.

"I don't think I care for how this game is going." One of the nerds by the fence commented.

"Nice job coach, practicing against you really paid off." Maehara complimented his teacher from the dugout.

XXX

"Pitcher Koro throws a startling 300 kilometers an hour. Eeeyah!"

"In fielder Koro set up an impregnable barrier of doppelgangers."

"Catcher Koro breaks your concentration with expert trash talk."

"I saw you behind the school playing air guitar, Niimura. You need to work on that fret technique." Korosensei whispered. The student in question turned red with embarrassment.

The students at E-Class collapsed on the ground. All exhausted and fed up with how the training had been going.

"I can't do this." One student groaned.

"Now, we will study the opposing team's strategies. To this end, Takebayashi has been watching them nonstop for the past three days." Korosensei revealed

"Aren't I the lucky one." The glasses wearer sarcastically commented. "Shindo's pitches top out at approximately 140.5 Kilometers per hour. He throws curveballs and fast balls exclusively. Fast balls 90% of the time."

"He sticks with what he does best. At the junior high level, all you really need is a good fastball." Sugino explained."

"Precisely, which means if we get our head around his fastball, we are in good shape." Korosensei pointed out.

"So for the rest practice all we can all be slowing down considerably, and copying Shinto's form to a T. Same stance, same force, as if the boy himself for throwing. And after dealing with the pitches I've been hurling at you, those fastballs will seem like they're moving in slow motion." Korosensei grinned.

XXX

Shindo pitched and Yuma bunted the ball.

["And we have another bunt! Right down the left field foul line!"] The announcer yelled.

"Furthermore more we can answer all these pitches, by restricting ourselves to bunting." Korosensei excitedly exclaimed.

["Fair ball. Astounding! It's come to a dead stop right on the line. Am I seeing this? Zero outs and the bases loaded! Maybe it's an off day for Shindo?"] The announcer suggested.

["Batter number four, Sugino."]

'Sugino!' Shindo furiously thought.

Blue, green, and yellow. Korosensei signaled.

Sugino tipped his cap slightly to show he understood. The teen blatantly positioned himself to bunt.

["And what's this? Sugino plans to bunt!"] The announcer exclaimed.

Shindo looked at the batter. For a split second, Sugino was holding a gun pointed at the pitcher, not a baseball bat.

'Something's not right about these people. Are they playing baseball to something else?" Shindo anxiously thought.

'I know I have nothing on the strength of your throwing arm, but real strength is a different story. It isn't about striking hard or often, real strength is about striking true.' The batter mused.

Sugino slid from a bunting position to a regular hitting form. "Heads up!"

["He hit it! The ball is heading deep into right center field! I can't believe it! They're making a run for home!"] The commenter shouted with excitement.

'No, this isn't real.' Shindo thought with clenched teeth.

Sugino landed on third base when the ball came back to the pitcher. "Yeah!"

["And Sugino the hitter lands safely on third! You're not seeing things folks, E-Class just had a baseball clearing triple."] The announcer shook his head in disbelief.

XXX

"What the h* is going on out there?" The baseball coach questioned and then looked to his right.

The principal, Mr. Gakushuu Asano stood there.

"You're looking alarmingly pale Mr Terai. It appears you're coming down with something. I recommend that you get some rest. Your team will worry, and when they worry it undermines their playing." Mr. Asano suggested, a threatening aura coming off him.

The principal stepped closer. "No, I'm fine. Honestly, sir. In fact, I've never felt better." A terrified Mr. Terai politely protested, mentally sweating buckets.

Mr. Asano put his heads around the coach's face and leaned close. The light made the principal's eyes look as if they were two crimson pools. "Don't be foolish, you're not well. Show me possible explanation for this catastrophe. Faculty members at this Academy do not fail otherwise."

The principle let go and the coach collapsed on the ground. "As I thought, take him to the infirmary immediately." Mr. Asano ordered.

"Yes, sir." The manager replied.

"I'll act as coach as you recuperate." The principle stated.

"What are you going to do?" Mr. Terai asked, fear evident in his voice.

"Do? I think I'll create a teachable moment about hubris." Mr. Asano replied.

XXX

The girls, Irina, and Tsuna were walking to the baseball field. They had been defeated in their basketball game.

"We got pretty close to winning because of our effort Tsuna-sensei." Rio declared.

"Maa, it was all of you, not me." Tsuna replied with a smile.

"Well, there's always next time, yeah?" Megu encouraged.

"It was my fault. I missed my shot. I was so distracted by my hate, they all had large chests." Kayano apologized.

"What is it with you and your hatred of big chests?" Minami ranted. The teen's face turned comical with her rage

The teachers and several of the students chuckled.

"It's fine. We all messed up." Megu placated.

"Anyways, let's hope the boys are doing better than we did." Rinka commented.

XXX

Gakushuu Asano walked towards the baseball team that stood on the pitcher's mound.

"Principal, sir." One of the baseball members weakly greeted.

In the dugout, the E-Class boys observed the principle.

"We're at the top of the first inning, and the final boss is already here." Maehara joked.

["Okay, this explains it folks, according to a note I've just been handed. Coach Terai has been ill since before the game started. Apparently, the team is so worried about his health their hearts haven't been in the game. Not one to languish in the bleachers our illustrious principal has stepped up to take the reins!"] The announcer exclaimed with great excitement.

The crowd of students outside the fence cheered and whooped.

["Batter number five, Maehara."]

Maehara's face was full of horror. All of the baseball players had moved up, and were extremely close to the batter.

["Wait! The players are converging on the infield. This is highly unusual."]

"Well, looks like they're onto our bunt strategy." Sosuke sarcastically observed.

"What the h*, man. They can't do this, right?" A frustrated Ryou asked.

"Technically if it's in their territory they can defend however they want. The umpire can call them on it if he felt like it, but he happens to be on their side. So fat chance of that." Sosuke replied.

"We must read a redirect the flow of the game. Sugino has a formidable talent, he kept up his skills by joining a municipal team. There's no denying that the boy is making an effort. But the fact is neither here nor there, everyone makes an effort in their own way. What separates you from the common ilk is a sense of destiny. Forge ahead to meet your future. And rabble like him will fall in the thousands to the force that propels you. Don't think of this as as merely baseball, rather, think of it as reconnaissance. As clearing your path of debris. Now, do I as destiny demands." Gakuho Asano's words rang through the minds of the baseball team.

Shindo pitched. Maehara flinched and tilted his bat up.

["He's popped it up."]

A baseball member caught the ball, looked to see if Sugino had made a run for home, and then tossed it back to the pitcher.

["Maehara is intimidated by the infielder pressure. And that's one out."]

XXX

Karma had stepped out of the dugout to briefly stretch and get ready. Korosensei appeared below his feet.

"Not a good idea to appear right beneath my feet, coach. Unless the object is to get stepped on." Karma pointed out.

"Nurufufufuu. You're up to bat after Ryou, right? How about we shake things up, ey?" Korosensei suggested.

[Batter number six, Taiga."]

'This is messed up! How am I supposed to bunt my way around a BS set up like this! A little guidance coach?' Taiga mentally panicked and looked to Korosensei for help.

White, white, and white, a dismal Korosensei signaled and hide his face in his tentacles.

'You mean we've got nothing!' Taiga responded with shock. By the fence, Tsuna saw the exchange and facepalmed.

"Strike three, batter is out!" The umpire called as the ball smacked against the catcher's hand for the third time in a row.

["Two outs one after the other!"]

Sugino was still on third base. The baseball player was anxious. The group of E-Class girls and the other three teachers of E-Class caught the baseball lover's eye.

Tsuna smiled and mouthed the words 'calm down, we have a plan.'

Sugino nodded and smiled in relief. He wasn't alone on this field, he had his teammates, teachers, and friends.

A/N

Hello! I'm back!

The next chapter will be up next month!

-Silver


	14. A serious game II

A/N

Note:[""] are the announcers talking.

Recap:Karma had stepped out of the dugout to briefly stretch and get ready. Korosensei appeared below his feet.

"Not a good idea to appear right beneath my feet, coach. Unless the object is to get stepped on." Karma pointed out.

"Nurufufufuu. You're up to bat after Ryou, right? How about we shake things up, ey?" Korosensei suggested.

XXX

[Batter number six, Taiga."]

'This is messed up! How am I supposed to bunt my way around a BS set up like this! A little guidance coach?' Taiga mentally panicked and looked to Korosensei for help.

White, white, and white, a dismal Korosensei signaled and hide his face in his tentacles.

'You mean we've got nothing!' Taiga responded with shock. By the fence, Tsuna saw the exchange and facepalmed.

"Strike three, batter is out!" The umpire called as the ball smacked against the catcher's hand for the third time in a row.

["Two outs one after the other!"]

Sugino was still on third base. The baseball player was anxious. The group of E-Class girls and the other three teachers of E-Class caught the baseball lover's eye.

Tsuna smiled and mouthed the words 'calm down, we have a plan.'

Sugino nodded and smiled in relief. He wasn't alone on this field, he had his teammates, teachers, and friends.

XXX

"Hey Koro, in the baseball game, put Karma as the seventh batter." Tsuna told the yellow octopus.

Korosensei tilted his head. "Why?" The teacher curiously asked.

Tsuna smiled. "I...have a feeling we'll need him there." The brunette vaguely responded.

XXX

["Batter number seven, Akabane."]

"Move it kid, get your tail in the batter's box." The umpire gruffly ordered.

"Hang on, never pegged you as the type to play dirty, sir. If the rules haven't changed, this gambit is actually illegal. They're bow guarding the infield, umpire should call them on it by now. Oh come on, anyone smell a rat? Or is it just me? Oh nevermind. You guys are morons. Baseball is like a foreign language to you guys." Karma sarcastically observed.

The students of the higher classes outside the fence grew angry and shouted at the batter.

"Just play ball!" "This isn't even a real game!" And other cries were heard.

'Not bad. I hope it's working like you want coach.' Karma thought.

'That's perfectly fine, the important thing is to not buckle. You see an injustice, speak out.' Korosensei mentally reassured, although his student could not hear him.

XXX

"Koro, would you be mind terribly if I borrow Karma Akabane during the baseball training today?" Tsuna abruptly asked.

The octopus blinked at his fellow teacher. "May I ask for what?"

"Don't worry about it. Just some extra assurance. Training Karma is the crux of my strategy to use your strategy, to our advantage." The brunette responded.

"You know what mine is?" The octopus questioned, his interest rising. He hadn't told anyone in Japan what he had plotted for the baseball game.

"It was kinda obvious since you always tell the kids to do a specific bunt unless it's Sugino." Tsuna deadpanned.

Korosensei sweatdropped from embarrassment. "Nurufufufu. Well, I look forward to seeing what your plan is then, Mr. Tsuna." Korosensei replied.

XXX

"Okay, teach, spill it. Why am I here? Did you need some love advice?" Karma joked.

The teacher sweatdropped and decided to ignore the last part of what his student said. "You're strong, smart, and learn quickly. Koro has been teaching you how to bunt. But, I'm going to teach you how to bat."

The redhead snorted. "You're acting pretty dramatically. So, how horrible is this going to be?"

"Very. Get ready for an extremely toned down variation of a friend's baseball advice and my tutor's training from Hell." The brunette teacher announced with a smirk.

XXX

The redhead looked over at the fence.

Tsuna gave a thumbs up, a beaming smile on his face. Karma grinned in reply.

'Now then, let's see if the training I did for the past three days can bring Sugino home.' Karma mused and stuck his tongue out at the pitcher.

["He's planning to bunt!"]

Just as Sugino did, Karma switched from bunting to a regular batting posture just as Shindo threw the ball.

Clang! Went the ball and it soared out to the outfield

["He hit it! It's in the left field! The runner on third base is headed home!"]

Sugino slide home in a cloud of dust.

On the other side of the diamond, Karma was a foot from reaching first base, but was hit due to his proximity of where his ball landed.

["One more point for E-Class! And three outs, it's the Kunugigaoka baseball team's turn at bat!"]

XXX

The baseball team gathered around Mr. Asano.

The ginger man stood in the dugout with a slight smile on his face and determination pouring out from him.

"You performed excellently, aside from your mishap that let Sugino slip through your fingers. Remember the basics, your priority as defense is to ensure no one reaches home plate, it didn't matter if the batter reached first. Shindo, foreseen fast balls are what will turn the tide. I want to see high drama, throw as if to crush them. Allow me to reiterate, this is far more than just a game of baseball, it is a benchmark on your climb to the top." The principal's words animated the team.

"Sir! Let's turn this around!" The team enthusiastically yelled.

XXX

The E-Class girls, Karasuma, Irina, and Tsuna watched the game through the green fence.

Irina muttered under her breath as she tried to read a book called "The easy to understand baseball rule book."

'The man knows how to light a fire under his students. Not unlike someone else we know. Gifted motivator, photographic memory of faces, strengths, and weaknesses. Their teaching methods are one and the same, and yet, as molders of young minds the two a diametrically opposed. They're on a collision course with each other, I can feel it.' Karasuma predicted as he looked at both baseball coaches. Principal Asano stood proudly in the opposing team's dugout and Korosensei covered his face in his tentacles and mentally scrambled for a new strategy.

"I get it! You hit the ball with a stick!" Irina exclaimed.

Tsuna sighed. At least basketball rules had been easy to remind Irina of. One of the assassin's longer term missions had a basketball player as a target.

["Batter number..."]

XXX

Sugino's pitches took care of the baseball team batters for the first inning.

Continually encouraged by their principal and incensed by E-Class's four home runs, the baseball team scored three points at the bottom of the second inning.

E-Class's attempts to score in the second inning proved fruitless.

The first half of the third inning was grueling for both groups. E-Class failed to score yet again.

XXX

["Bottom of the third the end is nigh!"]

"Hasimoto, a word." Mr. Asano told the first batter of the third inning.

"Yes, sir." The baseball member respectfully replied.

"Give E-Class a taste of it's own medicine." The principal ordered.

XXX

Hasimoto bunted and ran for first base. The infielders scrambled for the ball.

["Oh, ho, ho, ho. Look what we have here! The bunters became the buntees!"]

"Sorry." Justice apologized and tossed the ball to Sugino.

"It's alright, don't worry about it." Sugino replied with a smile.

["It's going to be another bunt!"]

'Imagine, my team bunting against amateurs. In any other situation this would be distasteful, but given that the upstarts have their own tricks turned against them. We chosen ones are perfectly justified.' Mr. Asano thought to himself.

["Zero outs, bases loaded, and it's the baseball teams pride and joy up next! Shindo!"]

The terrifying teenager that oozed bloodlust stalked towards home plate.

'You're mine Sugino, you hear! I'm going to crush you!'

"I've been building to this point since the first inning. The ending will be precise, dramatic, and the game will be decided not by a bunt, but by a promising young man under my tutelage. How will you answer my move, Korosensei?" The principal monologued to himself.

Korosensei popped up once again near Karma.

"Karma, I think it's time to put your trash talking to good use." The teacher suggested.

"Hmm. Ah, I get it now." The redhead figured out the plan and. Headed towards the E-Class huddle on the field.

"The only thing we can really do is walk Shindo." Sugino proposed, dismay in his voice.

"Yo! Hey, new marching orders from coach." Karma said.

XXX

["And so the game resumed. Except, what's with those defense positions?"]

Yuma and Karma stood about eight feet from home plate.

"Choking the infield isn't going to help the batter's concentration, but what are you going to do? Now if the ump had called you all out earlier, there would be a president for asking us to back off. You're cool with this right, chief?" Karma explained loudly with a grin and turned to the principal.

'Well played, but still just a desperate undisciplined ploy.' "Proceed as you will. A true athlete does not falter before such trickery." Mr. Asano declared.

"Wow! Duly noted! We'll hold to that, sir." Karma commented.

"Huh?!" Several student spectators declared.

Yuma and Karma now stood two feet in front of Shindo and home plate.

["For heaven's sake, they're standing so close! Talk about point-blank range!"]

"Hey mister chosen one, don't worry about us. You might hit us with your swing but we'll be fine." Karma jeered.

"Oh my, an obvious attempt at a bluff. Put everything you got into the swing. Crack a skull if need be. The penalty will go to E-Class for obstructing the rules." Asano slyly decided.

'Think you're are intimidating me? Well, let's see who pisses themselves when I brain you psychotic freaks!' Shindo swung early, the baseball thudded into Nagisa's catcher glove.

"Strike!" The umpire called.

'They dodged in the last millisecond.' Mr. Asano commented, slightly impressed.

'When it comes to guts and visual acuity, these boys are top of their class. Dodging Shindo's swing is as easy to them as bunting his fastball!' Korosensei thought as he ate a sparkly candy.

Shindo was terrified, who was that calm after almost getting hit in the head by a baseball bat.

"Holding back ain't going to cut it pal. On your the next throw, swing like you're trying to kill us." Karma pulled out an anti-sensei knife and stepped even closer to the batter.

'He's gotten pretty shaken up. He wants to do what the principal says, but can't bring himself to. Things change quickly in our world. One second you're playing baseball, and the next, the stakes are a lot higher.' Nagisa mused.

In Shindo's mind, Sugino's baseball turned into a purple skull as it flew towards him.

Shindo swung and missed. The ball bounced on the ground.

Karma jumped up and grabbed it. "Heads up Nagisa!" The bluenette caught ball and touched it to home plate.

"Throw it to third base!" Yuma yelled and pointed.

Justice caught the ball and touched it to the plate. The runner from second base slowed down to a walk.

"Out!" The umpire called.

"Kimura, run to first base!" A student from behind the fence cried out. The baseball team captain had sat on the ground in shock.

The ball was thrown from third to second, and then to Sosuke on First.

"Yeah!" E-Class and it's teachers cheered.

["The game is over. I can't believe it. This is insane. The winner is... E-Class, I never thought I'd say this. But the winner is E-Class!"]

"How could E-Class win?" "All that surperior firepower, wasted." The two nerds commented.

'If only people could see what was going on behind the scenes. This wasn't just a game, it was a straight-up battle of wills.' Nagisa thought.

"Not that anyone's keeping score, but between this and midterms. I'd say that it's 1-1. Until final exams, my dear principal." Korosensei quietly declared.

"Shindo! Sorry man. I didn't mean for things to go crazy like that. For what it's worth though, this doesn't change anything. You're still a better player than me. It's one little game, don't get depressed." Sugino encouraged.

"One little game? Why'd you go to so much trouble to win then? Don't feed me that line. You wanted to prove that you were superior stronger, and you did." Shindo scoffed.

"Take a look at us. We're not much of a team, I mean, we all get along really well. But collectively, we suck at baseball. Thing is though, when we practiced bunting, it was awesome. See the thing is for me, it wasn't so much about getting stronger, or better, it was, well, it was about being proud of my new friends. I want to just show them off, especially to you guys." Sugino replied with a sheepish grin.

Shindo smiled. "This isn't over between us. The next time we play will be in high school, Sugino."

"D* right." Sugino agreed. 'If the earth hasn't been blow to smithreens by then.'

"Something wrong?" Shindo asked.

"Nah." Sugino replied and stood up. The E-Class student offered his hand to his old friend. Shindo accepted and Sugino pulled the captain up.

Outside of the field, the rest of the E-Class boys smiled at the exchange.

XXX

The human E-Class teachers and girls of E-Class walked over to the guys.

"How'd the basketball game go?" Yuma asked.

"We lost." Rio bluntly admitted.

"But not by that much." Megu optimistically added.

"That's good." Maehara replied.

"You guys were pretty great out there." Touka complimented.

"Thanks." Yuma smiled.

"Hey guys, if you have time, how about I take all of you out for ice cream? You all worked hard the past few days." Tsuna offered.

"Yeah!" Came the resounding reply from the students.

XXX

Tsuna had put it off long enough. It was time to call in a favor.

"Hi, Luc. I like for you to do a job for me." Tsuna tapped a pen against a table.

"A favor or green?" The woman asked. *

Tsuna snorted. "Green. I'd rather owe Reborn something then you."

"Really? That hurts, you should be nicer to your friends." Lucretius joked.

"Yes. And I'm sure it breaks your heart to hear me say that." Tsuna replied in kind.

"Completely." Luc dramatically responded, she sounded utterly shattered. As if the love of her life had just died.

Tsuna snorted. A huff of muffled laughter came from the other side of the phone, a sure sign that her composure had broken as well. "Yes, I'm sure. Now about the 'job'..."

XXX

The four men were in the truck, two injured and bleeding. All were scared and furious about what had happened.

"We'll take you to a good underground doctor if you want to." The man in the shotgun offered.

"Thanks." The dealer curtly replied.

"Text the boss." The driver ordered. 

Omake:Weird

Chat:Just the weather

Seafood&Swords:Guys...something really weird happened

ClassicalRap:If you're saying that....

ClassicalRap:it must be really weird.

Illusionmast3r2:What happened?

Seafood&Swords:Tsuna asked me for sports advice.

WMDforlife:What.

BestDayEver:Extremely confused.

ClassicalRap:What?

Cowsrmylife:Whut.

ClassicalRap:You're joking

Seafood&Swords:I'm serious

Illusionmast3r2:....

Cowsrmylife:...

ClassicalRap:.......

WMDforlife:Hn.

Illusionmast3r:Someone add Reborn

Espressofordays was added to Just the weather by ClassicalRap

Cowsrmylife:Umm.

Seafood&Swords: Reborn, we think Tsuna went insane

Espressofordays:Why do you think that?

ClassicalRap:He asked Takeshi for advice

Espressofordays:You're all overreacting

ClassicalRap:He asked Takeshi for baseball advice

Espressofordays:...

Espressofordays:You might be right.

Espressofordays:Call him tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> *Green AKA money, more specifically American dollars.
> 
> P.S. The Takaoka episode is next.
> 
> -Silver


	15. The bad kind of crazy

The training of E-Class had brought some fruit.

In pairs, E-Class fought each other with Anti-sensei knives.

Karasuma stood at the front, keenly watching of his students. "Keep your eyes on the target. Don't let yourself be distracted. If you can't predict his moves, then you can't counter his evasive maneuvers." 'Not too shabby for four months of training. Every day these kids show promise.' The teacher mused.

Karasuma continued his train of thought. 'Take Isogai and Maehara for example. If I had been only slightly slower, I couldn't have dodged the strike near my neck. Then there's Karma, at first you see only sarcasm and laziness, but behind that facade is the instinct of a killer. And the girls, Okano's gymnastics background makes her moves harder to predict. Megu easily has the reach of her male counterparts. These are the stand out assassins of the group.'

A child's drawing of Korosensei appeared next to the stern government agent. "And don't forget Korosensei, the ideal teacher, a much loved teacher who none would have the heart to kill."

"That was my internal monologue d*. No one wants your two cents." The frustrated agent scowled and the octopus chuckled.

Karasuma focused back on his students. 'Truth be told, the other students have a long way to go. But thanks come a lot further then I had dare hoped.'

Karasuma froze. Bloodlust slithered around his neck in the shape of a serpent and came from behind him. In a knee jerk reaction, the agent elbowed the person behind him. The teacher's eyes widened at the petite blue haired student that had practically flown.

The others students stopped their fights and looked over to see what happened.

Nagisa sat up with a groan.

"Sorry, my reaction was a bit over the top." Karasuma strode over and sincerely apologized.

"Don't worry, I'm good." Nagisa assured.

"Eyes on the target, you have to see things like that." Sugino teasingly admonished.

The embarrassed bluenette rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah."

'Nagisa Shiota, what the...? Did I have a momentary lapse in sanity?' Karasuma asked himself.

The bell on the main campus rang, signalling the end of Physical Education.

Karasuma started walking to the teacher's lounge. Behind him, the students talked.

"Man, I'm having no luck hitting that guy." "You're right, there's like, zero chinks in Mister Karasuma's armor."

Bravely, Hinano approached the government agent. "Excuse me sir, we were wondering if you would like to grab a bit to eat with us."

"Sorry, no. I'd love to, but there's still a lot of work that I need to get done." Karasuma replied.

"Zero chinks in his personal life too." A student joked.

"He's definitely a man who prefers to keep his distance. It's like there's a wall of ice between him and us." Megu contemplated.

"Yeah, don't get me wrong he's super cool and everything. I mean, I just, I don't know, you think it's only because he has to be?" Hinano wondered.

"Hey hey Karasuma." A cheerful voice boomed.

"Takaoka?" Karasuma asked.

Akira Takaoka , from Japanese Ministry of Defense. The broad shouldered and burly man stood at the top of the steps with a grin on his face and carrying several shopping bags.

"Yo, my name is Akira Takaoka, and I'm here to give your gym teacher a hand. Nice to meet you gang, so what do you say? Ready to have some fun?"

XXX

Tsuna sat on the steps, watching his students drool and chomp down on delicious food while bonding with the new teacher. Korosensei quickly approached the food and chowed down.

Eventually, the other teachers were discussed by the students.

"Irina-sensei has gotten better."

"Yeah, we peg that it's because of Tsuna-sensei."

"He's kind, patient, and always tired."

"He's a hitman. That's a dangerous profession. You kids should be careful." Takaoka warned, his voice full of concern.

Many of the students smiled or chuckled.

"We get that sir, but." Sugino hesitated, he didn't know how to explain it.

"We all trust him, he's like family, our brother. He's just that type of person." Megu spoke up.

Takaoka smiled. "Ah, I see. That's good. Ha, I guess he's the older brother and I'm the dad, right?"

XXX

"You're telling me that some unknown b* took our shipment?"

"We lost our goods, his loses his head."

"Should we inform the head boss?"

"I will give Mr. Ghee a report after the man is dead, he is a small fry."

"Find out how this man is. Then contact Mr. Magenta. Ask him for his price and if it's good, give him the job."

XXX  
It was the next day, time for PE for Mr. Takaoka.

"Alright, everyone here? Now, things are going to be tougher than usual. But stick it out like the Champs I know you are. And we're talking more sweets.

"For us? Or are you really just saving them for yourself?" One of the female students teased.

"Nope, nope, wouldn't want to ruin this girlish figure." The teacher jokingly replied.

The students laughed.

XXX

In the teacher lounge, Karasuma was working on his laptop.

"How are you kosher with this idiot? If he was a toupee, a chin strap couldn't make him look phonier. Even Karma could tell, and he's not even here today." A frustrated Irina vented.

"He and I go back to the Airborne Brigade. We weren't best friends or anything, but based on the information I was given. He's great teacher." Karasuma calmly replied.

The blond 'hmm'ed in disbelief.

The government agent shook his head. "Young people respond to him. He speaks their language that's what you want in an educator."

Tsuna clicked his tongue. "Don't sell yourself short."

"Perhaps, but I think maybe I've been going about this the wrong way, my approach was to to draw a line and stay rational."

"I disagree. Anyways I'm going to go find Karma." The brunette replied and left the teacher lounge.

Karasuma let out a 'huh' as he clicked through the photos he had received. The first one showed Takaoka standing with four young men, large smiles on all their faces. The government agent clicked to the next picture. This one showed the back side of the young men. Their hands were tied together and they had multiple bright red lacerations on their backs and arms.

Karasuma's eyes widened in horror.

XXX

"All right, along with your new training regimen, comes a new schedule." The new PE teacher held up a piece of paper, full of periods with the word 'training'.

"What, no way!" "We have ten periods now?" "We train until 9 PM?"

Takaoka clasped his hands together. "That's the idea, grasshoppers. Don't be glum, think of the payoff. This curriculum will turn you into killing machines. You're going to love it!"

Maehara walked up to the teacher and tried to reason with him. "Hold up, hold up this is ridiculous! First off, this is school, we got to think about grades too. I mean come on, when are we supposed to study-"

The student was cut off as Takaoka smashed his knee into Maehara's stomach. The student violently gasped for air.

The teacher let go, and Maehara dropped to the ground. "Rule number one, we don't do can't. Rule number two, we are a family, and I'm the dad. Show me a family where dad is in charge I'll show you a family in crisis. If this is too much for you, sit it out. I can have my people at HQ send replacements for the whole class. That said, I'd much rather you stick it out. A father loves his children, unconditionally, the thought of losing even one of them breaks his heart. We're going to save the world, kids, and we're going to do it as a family."

The teacher loosely wrapped a arm around two of his students. 'There are two essential ingredients you need to earn loyalty from your students. Affection and fear.'

"Well? You're going to do everything father tells you, eh?" The teacher asked.

Kanzaki stood up. "Well, sir, to tell you the truth, I'm not much for PE. If I have to do it, I prefer Mister Karasuma's class."

Takaoka slapped the girl. The force of the blow forced her to the ground.

"Kanzaki!" Sugino called out. He and Nagisa ran over to the girl, concerned.

"Looks like we're having a bit of a communications gap. The only answer here, is yes. If anyone else needs a good dash of nonverbal reinforcement, daddy dearest will be happy to oblige." Takaoka moved his shoulder like he was getting ready to punch.

"Stop it! Hey did he twist your neck? Trying moving your head side-to-side." Karasuma had sprinted over to his students and checked whether Kanzaki had suffered any long term injuries.

"I'll be okay." Kanzaki softly reassured.

The government agent looked to where the guys were clustered around Maehara. "What about you?"

"I'll survive." Maehara blandly joked.

"See we're fine. Don't go getting your boxers in a twist, I'm not going to go full throttle on my beloved fam."

"Correct, except they're not your 'fam', they're my students." An angry red octopus announced.

"Korosensei!" The students said, shocked and relieved at the appearance of the octopus.

"I don't know what you are filling heads with while my back was turned, but it stops now." Korosensei declared.

"Sorry big guy, but this isn't your class. You teach your subjects all teach mine, in phys-ed I call the shots. Nothing I've done is outside acceptable corporal punishment. I've got to train these kids to kill you, I don't have a lot of time. I don't have the luxury of going easy on 'em. What are you going to attack me? Over a dispute over educational philosophies? Cause if that's what this is, you just don't care for the way I teach."

Throughout the speech, Korosensei grew increasingly angry, the students feared he would snap. 

XXX

The redhead sat on a cliff, his legs dangling over the edge.

"So, Karma, skipping class again?" Tsuna drawled.

Karma smirked. "Hey teach. Here to drag me back?"

The brunette shrugged and sat down next to his student. "No."

"Oh? Why not?"

Tsuna shrugged, "P. E. is being taught."

Karma tched. "Yeah...He's fake. There's something...rotting inside him. He uses sweets and jokes to mask the scent."

"I don't like to speak bad of my colleagues, but that's accurate."

"You, on the other hand, are somewhat different."

"Oh?"

"Your cheerfulness and kindness, I think it's fake. Sometimes you don't act that way, like you had forgotten to not be serious. Maybe you were one way and then you changed. Maybe you don't know how to act now that you have? Or it's a mask that you got so used to wearing it became a part of you?" Karma theorized.

""Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth," correctly said Oscar Wild."

"And what does that mean?" The redhead asked, hoping for an explanation.

Tsuna smirked, "it's your job to puzzle it out, not mine."

The redhead rolled his eyes.

The teacher stood up and dusted his pants off. "I'll be taking my leave now."

XXX

Karasuma and Korosensei sat on the steps, Irina stood behind them, the three watched Takaoka teach.

"The man will crush those children, body and spirit. And he's right, I don't care for it, but civility dictates I let him teach the way he sees fit. That's why I'm counting on you, you're on par with this fellow, are you not? I need you to shut him down." Korosensei told Mr. Karasuma.

'Me? That's rich.' The government agent thought.

'Bet this really grinds your gears, Karasuma. Me stealing these kids out from under you. You were always the top dog of our old brigade. Never gave a d*** about what I could do. And yet, here I am, throwing a monkey wrench into your shot at promotion. Let half of these snot-nosed punk get pulverized, as long as I can shape the other half into octopus killing warriors, it'll be me reaping the glory when the deed is done. You'll be licking my boots till the day they put you out to pasture.' Takaoka monologued.

"This is seriously not funny." "Three hundred squats? We're going to die." Two of the guy students grumbled.

Kurahashi stopped exercising and begged for interference. "Mister Karasuma, please."

"Watch it." Takaoka warned as he cracked his knuckles.

Kurahashi gasped and cowered back at the threatening stance of the Psy-Ed teacher.

"Mister Karasuma isn't part of our family, doll face. Someone needs a lesson. Disrespecting daddy makes him very angry." Takaoka swung his fist at the girl.

Kurahashi put her arms together to protect her torso and let out a small shriek.

The punch never arrived. Behieb the new PE teacher, Karasuma held his old colleague's arm in a vise like grip.  
"That's enough. If you hurt these kids, you will answer to me."

"There it is, I was wondering when you'd throw your chips in, old buddy." 'Ha, I've been waiting to make this interesting.' "What's the big deal, who are you to criticize how I teach. If this is something we need to settle like men, I'm up for the challenge challenge. However, remember that we're teachers first. Here's the method I propose, cherry pick your star pupils out to the students you've trained by your methods and set them on me. If a knife so much as grades my aura, I'll concede that the way you teach is surperior to mine. No fuss, no back pedaling, I'll pack it in and leave." Takaoka proposed.

The PE teacher walked over an rummaged through his bag, he scorningly tossed a anti-sensei knife over his shoulder. "We won't be using these rubber knives, no, we'll be using real ones."

Takaoka pulled out a metal knife, he stabbed it through the anti-sensei knife and into the ground. "When the objective is to kill a human being, you can't rely on toys. So we'll be using the real thing."

XXX

The brunette's HI urged him towards the halfway point of the main mountain path. 

"Ah, Principal Asano, a pleasant surprise to see you. What are you doing here?" Tsuna asked, a slight crease appearing between his forehead.

"Mr. Yoshi, I am here to see how the new hire is doing. Your probation period ended two weeks. I haven't seen you since then, how have you been doing?" The redhead cordially replied.

"I and the students have been doing well. Unfortunately, keeping my sanity with all the chaos around me is...a challenging task."

"Most new teachers have that problem. However, you most likely have it worse with your unusual situation. Don't worry, I trust you'll make it through," the principal reassured, although the encouragement bordered on icy instead of warm.

"That reminds me. As for your teaching philosophy, I don't think people can be permanently divided into 'weak' and 'strong' overall." Tsuna suddenly commented.

The principal got a hard glint in his eyes, although he kept his voice even toned and a smile on his face. Due to his employee's line of work and interesting personality, Asano decided to indulge the man in a education related philosophy conversation. "And why's that?"

"My personal experience has led me to the opposite opinion. I believe that just because you haven't done something worthwhile, doesn't mean you don't have the potential to do so."

"I'll agree to your point that everyone has the potential. However, I believe some have more potential then others," Mr. Asano stated.

"True, but I think we can agree that accomplishments don't necessarily correlate to more potential then others. Also, I can not forget that that all of students whether in E-Class or the top 1% of this school, are being damaged by your hierarchy. In my opinion, a good school not only encourages good academics and athleticism, but builds the character of their students. The latter is where I find your school severely lacking, Principal Asano," Tsuna bluntly explained.

The redhead gave an amused chuckle, his eyes cold but considering. "Bold words, especially for a green teacher."

XXX

"This is ridiculous, these kids are not prepared to take down a real human being and you know it." Karasuma protested.

Takaoka sighed. "Don't get all concerned citizen on me, they don't have to kill anything, just come close. And I'll do you a solid by defending myself bare handed." 'This little trick works beautifully in the big leagues too. Take a fresh faced recruit wielding a knife for the first time, pummel the poor b* within an inch of life while unarmed, and bingo. Instant alpha dog status.'

Takaoka grinned at Karasuma's and E-Class's hesitance. "What are you waiting for? Pick yourself a champion, or bypass the headache and agree to let me run the show from now on."

The PE teacher dropped the knife, it planted itself firmly into the dirt.

Karasuma narrowed his eyes and picked up the knife. 'Wish I could say I was sure about this. Are his methods as bad as all that? Maybe his take no prisoners policy, is what saving the world calls for. I'm not sure if anything anymore, still, we'll get him. But how can I put one of these kids on the spot? Do I even have a star pupil?'

XXX

At the top of PE field stairs, Tsuna and Principal Asano watched the scene.

Those on the field and Irina and Korosensei on the steps farther down were far too absorbed in the tense situation to notice the principal and teacher.

"Are you going to step in?" Tsuna bluntly asked.

"That depends on how events unfold," the principal replied.

The don nodded in understanding, the redhead was waiting for the tipping point. A decisive look at how the new teacher operated and how the class and staff responded. To see where the wind blows before you sail, is a respectable decision.

XXX

The former PE teacher stood in front of his students and reached a decision. "Nagisa, you're up."

The blue haired middle schooler raised his head, eyes wide with shock.

"Wait, what? Are you kidding?" One of the other students asked.

Karasuma walked over to Nagisa and offered the weapon. "In my eyes, we're all fellow soldiers on a mission to save Earth from destruction. Whatever our differences there are, we share that goal. The least you kids deserve for being put in this situation, is my respect. I may not be much of a father figure, but I understand your dilemma. So if you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to take up the knife. Our duty as teachers is to prepare you for life, not force you into it kicking and screaming."

Nagisa looked from the knife to his teacher's face. 'This man always looks me in the eyes. My own family doesn't even do that. But him, no problem. Man, there must be so much he's not allowed to tell us. And I can't imagine why he's choosing me.'

The blue haired kid picked up the offered knife. 'But, if he sees fit hand me the knife, I'll trust his decision and take it. Either way Takaoka is out of control. Someone has to do something.' "I'm your guy."

Nagisa gripped the metal weapon with his teeth as he stretched.

"Oh come on, this twig? Your eyes must be going in your old age." Takaoka sneered.

"What would possess that dumb b****** to pick him? This is going to be a train wreck," Irina scathingly commented out loud.

"Patience, you'll see." Korosensei responded.

Karasuma whispered advice to Nagisa.

Several of the students talked amongst themselves. "You think Nagisa will get anywhere near him?" "I don't think so, the guy's a pro. H***, how would you do won't a real knife?"

'Nagisa...' Kayano thought, worried for her friend.

"Ready when you are," Takaoka declared.

Nagisa took up a stance, holding the knife directly in front of him.

Takaoka grinned, a mad look in his eyes. 'This is going to be fun, time to school these kids in the ways of real humiliation. Dodge, taunt, beat. Wash, rinse, repeat.'

Karasuma's advice and voice echoed through Nagisa's mind. 'It is important that you understand this is real to him, he intends to make an example of you. Treat this like any other assassination. You don't have to be stronger than your target, just one good strike and your job is done. That's right, just one.'

Takaoka licked his lips. 'It's dawning on him, Stakes are pretty high with a knife in your hand is real. He's thinking 'this is for keepsies, I can't take the life of another human being'. There's nothing sweeter then the sight of a rookie turning pale at the thought of his first kill.'

'This is bound to be a little bit different than what I'm used to, so I need to stay focused. Just remember what Mr. Karasuma said. One strike, I just need one strike. I just need to kill him. So I'll give him a smile, walk towards him calmly, totally nonchalant like I'm on the way to school.'

Nagisa bumped into the PE teacher. The latter was frozen, seemingly lacking understanding of what was going on around him.

The blue haired student suddenly swung his knife up, at the teacher's throat. 'And before he knows what's up, this gets real. Yeah, that's right. You're about to die. No one keeps it together when they're realize that, even Korosensei gets thrown off. And you're nothing compared to him. Once you lean back and lose your balance, all it takes is a little tug. Here, let me help you down.'

Nagisa wrapped his arms around Takaoka's stomach and threw all of his weight into pushing the man to the ground. 'There we go.'

The student somehow slide his way around to the teacher's back. Nagisa gave off the aura of a large blue serpent as he did so.

'You can block from the front no problem, but an attack from behind? Good luck.' From behind Takaoka's left shoulder, Nagisa held the metal blade to the shuddering teacher's neck.

"Looks like I win." Nagisa commented.

The spectators looked on in shock.

Karasuma frowned. 'What the h***? That's not something you see every day. The talent this kid's got is unreal. The way he strolls up to the target, using his intent until the last second, springing upon them like a python. That explains the chill I got from him before. This goes beyond the instincts of a killer, Nagisa isn't a normal boy, he's a natural born assassin. But, should I nurture a gift like his or shut it down?"

Nagisa blinked in confusion. "Oh, wait a second, was I supposed to use the back of my knife?"

Korosensei gently grabbed the metal knife. "I'll take that, thank you. Game, set, and match, Mr. Karasuma. And how outrageous, giving one of my students a real knife? Have you lost your marbles? He could have been hurt, or worst."

Nagisa nervously chuckled at the octopus's concern. The rest of E-Class rushed to congratulate the bluenette and ask if he was okay.

'Pretty sure you're quick enough on your feet to keep that from happening. Still though...' Karasuma mused as he watched E-Class's usual shenanigans. The appearance of the octopus that showed up behind him, put a damper on his shock.

"If ever a man was unsure of himself right up until the moment of truth, it's you." Korosensei teased.

"Think so, huh?" Karasuma blandly replied. Korosensei chuckled

Takaoka suddenly got up and raged over his loss. Tsuna sighed, 'what happened to leaving without a fuss?'

Korosensei held Karasuma back, giving the class sa since to stand up for themselves.

The students refused to back down and stood as a united front. Nagisa spoke up, giving a heartfelt speech about how great Karasuma was. Tsuna held back a snort at Karasuma being labeled the 'class dad'.

Korosensei put a tentacle on Karasuma's shoulder. "To teach is to confront such answers head on. Moreover, to do so by drawing from their well of confidence in us. A student confidently answers a question we ourselves were troubled by."

Korosensei let go Karasuma's shoulder as Takaoka lunged foward to attack the kids. The government agent sprinted over and elbowed the PE teach in the face. Takaoka thudded to the gound on his back.

"Sorry, my colleague is too big for his britches. He's not in position to threaten you. Don't give him another thought, I'll negotiate with my superiors to put things back the way they were," Karasuma promised.

"It's going to take moee than that to be done with me. You'll get this job over my dead body!" Takaoka raved.

"That won't be necessary," a smooth voice replied. The redheaded principal walked down the steps and towards Takaoka. His suit and shoes had not a leaf, twig, or speck of dirt on them even though he had walked through the woods.

Behind the principal, Tsuna watched with a smirk.

"Principal Asano?" Karasuma questioned.

"I'll trust you'll forgive the intrusion, everyone. I came to see our new hire in action," Mr. Asano explained as he passed E-Class and its staff.

The principal pulled Takaoka up by the collar. "It must be said that your methods are nothing short of a travesty. Granted, theory is the engine of education, but a teacher only able to instill fear through violence is nothing but a brute. And I do not employ brutes."

"But, I was just-" Takaoka protested. Mr. Asano shoved a ball of paper into the man's mouth.

"Your walking papers. The ministry of defense does not call the shots around here, and I intended to keep it that way. This is my school and my school alone, remember that." The principal calmly declared as he walked back towards to steps.

"D**** it, d**** it, d**** it!" Takaoka cried out as he ran past the principal. He'd been fired, there was nothing he could do for the moment.

Mr. Asano stopped in front of Tsuna.  
"You have some interesting views, I look forward to our next conversation Mr. Yoshi."

"Thank you Principal Asano, I look foward to it as well."

The two traded small sly smiles, both aware that each other's darker and serious side hide just below the surface. And then the principal moved on, back to the main campus.

Tsuna turned back to the field and grinned as the students and Irina were eagerly swarming around Karasuma, all eager to have their PE teacher back.

Tsuna laughed as Irina pulled Karasuma's wallet of the man's hand. Looks like the kids had guilt tripped the government agent into paying, and Irina was all to willing to help when it came to food.

XXX  
In the back of a restaurant, three men were playing poker.

"Did you hear about the Otogibanashi's recent problem?"

"No, why?"

"Some unknown cocky little s*** managed to steal one of their drug shipments."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard about that. They're trying to find the guy. He's probably going to be assassinated before long."

"Shame, guy's an idiot for messing with them, but he's got some balls."

"And probably a little bit of skill to pull off a heist like that."

"Or a lot of luck."

"Hah, yeah."

"Keep an eye on the situation for me."

"Will do, boss."

Omake: Nothing

ClassicalRap: Hey

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: Hi

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: What's up?

ClassicalRap: Nothing much

ClassicalRap: Are you alright?

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: Is there a reason I shouldn't be?

ClassicalRap: No.

ClassicalRap: Just.

ClassicalRap: Nvm

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: Okay?

Tsuna pulled a face at the cryptic messages. Oh well, his Guardians were weird, he accepted that a while ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N


	16. Aquaphobia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N

In the dim apartment he currently lived in, a man pressed the 'voice mail' button on his phone. The man skipped over the many scams and surveys. Near the end was a known number labeled 'Oto'. "Mr. Magenta, we have a job offer for you. If you are interested, go to the Red Herring at seven o'clock."

XXX

Tsuna sat by the side of the pool. He watched, soaking up the warm sunlight: as the girls commented on Nagisa's androgynous appearance, as lifeguard Korosensei regulated the pool too harshly, and as Karma got the teacher back by tugging and inching the life guard tower near the edge of the pool.

Apparently, Korosensei couldn't swim. For some reason, the water adversely effected whatever he was.

"Hey Tsuna-sensei, come swim with us!" "Yeah! Don't be a loner!" "The water's great!"

"Afraid of swimming like the octopus?" Karma teased. The ginger student was one of many who had gotten out of the water to grab some sun lotion.

Tsuna sighed and stood up. He emptied his pockets of his keys, phone, and wallet. He walked back to the pool edge and was immediately was pushed into the water by the students who had snuck up behind him.

Korosensei blew his whistle and protested the "students! That's not safe!" "He's actually right this time about safety," Kataoka commented, the girls sweat dropped at their classmates and teacher.

Tsuna stood up and sputtered, the students that had pushed him in laughed at the sight of their soaked teacher. He vigorously shook his head to get his dripping hair out of his eyes. "Well, at least you guys are having fun," the teacher dryly stated.

At that comment, the students on the concrete grinned and jumped into the pool around their teacher. Tsuna screwed his eyes shut as water flew everywhere. Korosensei's immediate whistle and order were drowned out by splash fight that quickly started.

Why did it start? The boys landings had drenched the girls nearby without a warning. It was boys versus girls play fight that even more crazy by Tsuna suddenly switching sides.

In the middle of the chaos, the leaders Kataoka and Yuma shook hands. That cemented their deal to go after the most diabolical player, one no one had splashed yet. Tsuna nervously chuckled as his class stopped fighting each other and turned towards him with sweet smiles.

For several minutes, Tsuna dodged, zig-zagged, and used the other students as shields. Eventually, the teacher held his breath and sunk to the bottom of the pool like a stone.

"He has to come up sometime, right?" A frustrated Maehara asked.

"Yeah, we'll catch him then," Sosuke affirmed, "although, we may be waiting awhile."

While everyone was distracted, Rio took the chance to launch a sneak attack. Two large splashes hit Yuma and Maehara, the respective leader and right hand of the Boy's Pool Team. This occurrence started the war all over again.

Tsuna briefly opened his eyes underwater and swam for the pool wall. The teacher surfaced and put his hands on top of the wall to haul himself up.

"Get him!" Came the yell. It was accompanied by water being splashed all over Tsuna's back. "Okay, okay, you guys got me, you win," the teacher cheerfully admitted and turned his face back towards the pool. Many of the students smiled and cheered.

The few who didn't were closer in distance to Tsuna, they were staring at something. The teacher followed their stares to his exposed arms. Part of the way through the game he had rolled up his sleeves up to his shoulder, he didn't even think about doing it.

Several scars were blatantly visible. The silver lines stood out against the light tan his arms had acquired over the past hour of sunlight.

"Ah, those, I forgot about them," Tsuna blandly said.

"How did you get them?" Kurahashi asked, her voice worried. The teacher sighed, let go of the wall, and turned to face his class. Korosensei appeared by the pool wall, concern clear on the octopus's face.

"I'll tell you guys about the more memorable ones on my arms." Tsuna used his index index to point one of his scars, "this long thin one, guy shot at me in an alley, Paraguay, four years old." Next, Tsuna tapped a ragged line that trailed around his bicep, "this one, combat knife, never got a good look at who did it, Mexico, a year ago."

"What about that one?" Maehara asked.

Next to the knife wound from Mexico, there was a pink lopsided patch. Tsuna snorted in disbelief at the memory, "a maniac in Brazil made a flamethrower."

"You said the ones on your arms, you have other scars, right?" Nagisa softly pointed out.

"That's right. I've been in the mafia for six years and I've gotten in a lot of fights, more than most due to my job," the teacher solemnly explained. 'Position', Tsuna has almost said, instead of 'job', but he managed to catch himself before he made the slip.

"What's on the chain around your neck, it looks like a ring," one of the girls observed.

Tsuna blushed slightly and pulled the metal links out from under his soaked shirt. In the middle of the chain, a gold band proudly gleamed. "Engagement ring, my fiancee wanted me to have one to remind me of her," the teacher sheepishly admitted.

Korosensei practically squealed and snapped close up pictures of the ring. He quickly ran over to the other side of the pool to get a better angle and then ran back to ogle at the ring in person.

All of the students's grinned. "Who's the lucky lady?" Rio asked.

Tsuna shook his head, "you guys aren't getting more out of me today."  
His class grinned, aside from Nagisa who sweat dropped. With the exception of the bluenette, the class was quite sure they could get more intel. They smelled a juicy story and all of them wanted to get closer to their second most mysterious teacher.

The teacher in question then gave a demonic look of his own, a sadistic smirk that clearly said 'don't even try'. "Unless, you all want MORE Home ec. homework for the next month."

The students quickly backed off and Tsuna got out of the pool. The teacher let the sun do its work. He happily watched as his students had fun. Humorously, they now sometimes ignored Korosensei's whistle, since the knowledge of the octopus's ironic weakness had been confirmed. 

XXX

It was night time:the stars merrily twinkled, the wind blew, and leaves shook and scraped against each other.

Upstream from the pool, Terasaka had tipped over a large container. It's contents poured in the river.

XXX

Today's project was some simple sewing. Tsuna had decided to start with teaching the basics before having the kids actually make something. 

The teacher wandered around the room. He subtly checked for mistakes and cheerfully pointed them out. Most of the class had trouble doing things correctly, with the exception being Sosuke Yuma, and a few of the girls. Some put too much space between stitches and the rest made their stitches too big.

The students chattered about the incidents involving Terasaka yesterday. The kid had knocked a fake motorcycle over, had pulled a spray can prank, and had a brief confrontation with Karma.

XXX

Tsuna walked in the classroom, a bento in his hands. He grimaced, the octopus seemed to be crying. The brunette teacher sat down next to Irina, as he commonly did when he decided to not eat lunch alone.

Irina frowned and looked at the octopus."Okay, can you please stop, this crying business is ridiculous."

"It's not crying. For your information, these are my nostrils. I'm not crying, my nose is running," Korosensei protested.

"How am I supposed to know that?" Irina asked with annoyance.

"For some reason my sinuses have been running amok since yesterday," Korosensei complained.

Terasaka walked in the room. The yellow octopus appeared in front of his student, mucus flying everywhere as he spoke. "Terasaka! Thank heaven! I had this awful feeling that you abandoned our class for good!"

Terasaka's face had been coated with the yellow liquid. He gave his teacher an irritated look.

'The so called 'bug bomb' that you set off in class was in fact a canister of concentrated pollen-like allergens specifically designed to blunt our foe's senses. Now, we move to phase two,' Shiro's explanation echoed through Terasaka's mind. The student wiped his face clean with his teacher's tie.

"So, octopus, I think it's time we stop messing around and start going after you for real. Come by the pool after class. We all know your big weakness is water. Don't we know?" Terasaka asked with a grin.

Tsuna watched as Terasaka asked for his classmates's help. The student was questioned by Maehara and casually brushed it off with an insult. Terasaka left and the rest of the class grumbled about his bad behavior and strongly declared they weren't going to help.

Snot started pouring out from Korosensei's nostrils, like a yellow river. Students stood up, disgusted by the deep yellow puddle that covered the room's floor.

Tsuna pulled a horrified face. The stood on top on the desk he had been sitting at and had picked up his tray of food to keep it as far away from the mucus as possible.

"His snot is hardening and locking us in place! It's covering the floor!" A terrified Justice pointed out.

"Terasaka is showing some initiative and needs to be supported. He's been rather difficult in the past, and listening to-" The rest of the teacher's lecture was inaudible as his head was now covered in mucus. Tsuna gagged at the disturbing sight. "Why are you so gross?!" One of the students yelled.

XXX

"Terasaka! Wait up! Are you for real about this?" Nagisa asked.

"You tell me man. Does it look like I'm joking?" Terasaka asked.

Nagisa frowned, "I'm just saying, if you got a plan, but the rest of us in on it and we might be able to-"

Terasaka grabbed Nagisa's collar. "-D**n! Shut up, you people make me sick! You know that? All of you huddling together, too terrified to make a move on your own. I'm not like the rest of you! A wolf's got eyes for prey, a cow's got eyes for hay."

Terasaka walked away, hands shoved deep into his pockets.

'Alright then, it seems he knows what he's doing. Still, it seems like he's more confident in his plan then himself. I mean 'the wolf's got eyes for prey'? Seriously? No way he came up with that on his own,' Nagisa mused.

XXX

Tsuna stared at the wall of the teachers's lounge. Thoughts about his family, his paperwork, his colleagues, and his students trickled through his mind. He shook off his laziness and got to work.

The teacher had decided to spend an hour or so, in the lounge, to grade the personal budgets he had his class do over the past month. This way, Tsuna wouldn't have to carry another bag with him when he headed to his apartment.

Some were long lists that included large amounts of: junk food, video games, make up, deserts, etc. Others, like Yuma's, were shorter and more practical. 

A sudden feeling of dread sunk into the don's heart and he bolted for the door of the teacher's lounge.

XXX

'Well, this can't be good,' Karma commented as he looked at the empty pool.

"I, I didn't do it this wasn't part of the deal. Itona was just supposed to help me push him in, that was all," a shocked Terasaka protested.

"You never had a plan did you? You just let yourself be strung along by someone else. A pawn in a game you don't know the rules to," Karma realized, a slight smirk on his face.

"Listen to me! It's not my fault! Come on, you know I never would have signed up for something like this. I, I I was played for an idiot. I wasn't the one who swept them all away!"

Karma punched Terasaka in the face.

"Hey idiot, the only one who got swept away here is you. You have two choices: keep making excuses to cover your a** or find a way to fix this," the redhead explained and then jogged off towards the waterfall.

XXX

Korosensei jumped down the waterfall and caught one of the students.

"Last one, Korosensei said with relief and placed the student on a rock. Suddenly, a white tentacle grabbed one of the octopus's 'legs' and pulled him into the water at the bottom.

"Lovely to see you again Korosensei," Shiro greeted.

The octopus stood up. Several of his feelers were pink, as if allergic to something.

"Ordinary water is bad enough isn't it? Worse still is water treated for the chemical agent designed to slow you down. Your own student saw to it that things went... Swimmingly," Shiro punned.

"Itona," Korosensei exclaimed as the white haired boy moved towards him, three white tentacles whipped through the air.

"How's it going brother? I believe you and me are slated for a friendly little rematch," Itona blandly stated.

XXX

Tsuna looked at the pool, his face pale. The concrete dam that held the water in the pool had been destroyed. If anyone was in the pool when that happened, they could have fallen over the waterfall not far downstream. But his HI signaled to the opposite, so if anyone was in the pool, Korosensei had saved them.

His HI intution dulled to a low thrum, the danger had lessened. He sighed, full of relief and started to inspect the broken dam. It had been blown up, that much was obvious.

XXX

"Now, Itona, strike the killing blow," Shiro ordered.

Terasaka jumped down into the water. "What's up?"

"Can I help you?" Shiro turned to the student and asked.

"I bet you jerks thought you got me pretty good."

"Does that wound your ego? There's woemthing to be said for being the perfect foil my friend. Or, are you suddenly upset that we endangered the classmates you care nothing for?"

"Laugh it up man, payback is about to be a real a**," Terasaka warned. The student moved to the middle to the river, took off his white shirt, and held it in front of him.

"Hey, Itona, you and me, one on one right now," Terasaka challenged.

"Don't be ridiculous Terasaka! He'll throttle you!" Korosensei cried in warning.

"I wasn't talking to you, tentacles," Terasaka yelled back.

Shiro chuckled, "he's tapped into his inner hero. Shut him down Itona, for good."

On top of the cliff, most of the students of E-Class stood and concerned. "What have you done?" A worried Nagisa asked Karma.

"Don't worry, they're not going to kill a student. We're too valuable alive. As long as we're in danger, Korosensei can't concentrate on the fight. Even Hara, isn't that bad off. If she falls, either he or Itona is bound to catch her. It may look like he's in over his head, but Terasaka know exactly what to expect. Tentacle boy will try to knock him unconscious, but if he grabs on and rides it out, we're good," Karma explained.

Terasaka clung to the white tentacle that had lashed out at him.

"That's an impressive grip you have there. Let's see if if you can stand up under another lashing," Shiro complimented.

Itona drew back his tentacle, inevitably bringing the white shirt. The boy sneezed, a shocked look in his face.

A puzzled Nagisa looked to his friend.   
"That's yesterday's shirt, the one Terasaka had on when he bug-bombed the class. Unless he did laundry last night, there's still some residue on it from before. Whatever weird chemical was in that can, I figured if it effected Korosensei it would effect Itona," Karma said with a shrug.

Itona sneezed several times in a row, his eyes watered, and his tentacles dripped with mucus.

"Now there you go, tentacle boy is distracted and Korosensei has the chance to rescue Hara. Gotta love a good plan," Karma motioned to his classmates that it was time to move closer.

"Yoshida, Muramatsu, give us a nice splash," Terasaka called up to his friends. "He's out of his mind." "I like it!"

"Logically, the two of them have the exact same weaknesses. It's easy, turn the kid's own tactics against him," Karma finished complimenting himself and gave a thumbs down.

E-Class jumped down into the river. Their human canon balls sent water flying everywhere. The students used everything they could to splash Itona with water: feet, hands, plastic bags, large leaves...

Itona's tentacles turned spongy and more curly because of being soaked.

"Wow, that escalated quickly, looks like you got a problem with water retention," Karma snarked, the redhead sat comfortably crouched on a nearby rock slab.

A frustrated Shiro looked at the redhead.

"Okay, here's the deal. We aren't okay with you hogging all the prize money or with the fact that your plan involved putting our lives in danger. Slapping one of our own around doesn't sit well with either. So, if you want to keep at this? You're going to have to face all of us,' Karma declared, a smirk on his face. E-Class stood ready to continue the one sided water fight.

"Well played children, we withdraw. The slaughter of innocents was never our intention. Who could predict how his anti-matter organs would react? Come along, Itona," Shiro ordered.

"Well, wasn't that a fun way to while away the afternoon, class? And there's always room for one more," Korosensei said.

"Itona," Shiro reminded his ward.

The soaked whitenette jumped out of the water and followed his guardian.

On top of the cliff, Tsuna looked down at his class and his colleagues. Itona and Shiro were gone and Karma was getting soaked by his classmates as some sort of revenge.

Tsuna snorted, "heh, seems I missed all the action."

XXX

The Red Herring was neutral ground and had excellent reputation with the county's criminal organizations.

"Magenta."

"Ah, yes, you have a reservation in the back. Last door on the left," the restaurant employee replied.

"Thank you," the hitman gruffly responded. He went through the kitchen and started the dim walk to the back of the restaurant.

The creaking wooden floor in the back did not only serve as beautiful red decoration, but as a warning system for those conducting business behind the doors he passed. Magenta heard snatches of conversations and bits of gossip amongst indecipherable murmers and whispers. He mentally noted some of the familiar voices and a few valuable pieces of information.

The end of the hallway was were he was headed, to the last door on the left. Magenta opened it, his future client was inside.

The room was one of the more bare ones. There only was a table and two chairs. The type made just for business. So that one can easily check for bugs if they want to.

An underboss of the Otogibanashi sat at the table. Two subordinates stood behind the man, the bumps of hand guns in their jacket pockets quite visible.

The hitman and client exchanged pleasantries then got down to business. The underboss placed a sketch and grainy picture of the target on the table.

Magenta recognized the person. Vongola Decimo, the saintly Don. This was one of the people one wouldn't go after unless they were insane....or didn't know who the person was.

Magenta kept his face neutral, as always. The underboss didn't know? Well, it wasn't part of the hitman's job to tell him.

Not that he was going to take the job, of course. He was getting older and more inclined to spectating. Let the ignorance of the Otogibanashi be their down fall.

So, he simply asked for a price a bit too high. A bit too outrageous for the underboss to accept paying. And Magenta made his leave of this series of events.

But the hitman left his mark, undoubtedly. His choice to not warn his would be client let a small snowball roll down the white hill unhindered.


	17. Possibilities

"I'll take the job."

A envelope that contained a stack of cash was dropped on the table.

"You will receive the rest of the money after he is dead."

"Of course, of course," a cheerful voice replied as it picked up the envelope.

XXX

Final exams were soon.

E-Class was in the forest, copies of Korosensei tutored them. Tsuna mostly watched but helped when a student was stuck on a particularly nasty problem or confusing idea.

Nagisa asked the octopus if terms of the test was the same as before: Korosensei would leave if E-Class did not all place in the top fifty.

The teacher replied with a negative.

"Now, not to worry, Terasaka, my boy! You can do well if you believe it!" Korosensei copy encouraged, a Naruto headband on his forehead. The student grimaced in annoyance.

"Now then, you'll recall, that Shiro revealed to us that the destruction of a tentacle decreases my speed," the yellow octopus replied and shot his tentacle with an anti-sensei gun.

Tsuna watched in disbelief as Korosensei shot off three more tentacles, and told the sad story of the unexplained child and parent copies.

The yellow octopus grinned, "the main take away, class, is that each tentacle 'kerploed' equals a 10% reduction in my agility. Which brings me to my proposition, those who get the highest scores on the final and/or the best ranking in each subject are granted the right to obliterate one tentacle a piece! This is how we do finals here, boys and girls! This, is the assassination classroom! Ask yourself, are you prepared to inch ever closer to the grand prize!"

'I got to hand it to him, the one thing Korosensei does better than anything is motivate,' Nagisa thought.

Tsuna smiled at the scene and then glanced over his shoulder as his HI gave a dull buzz. Someone had been there, watching him. Whoever it was, was gone. 'Well, that's slightly concerning.'

XXX

The office of the Principal was extremely sparse. It's walls and floor were a dull gray, with a large window to let in light. The only furniture was a desk and the turned around chair in which the redhead sat. Irina, Karasuma, and Tsuna stood in front of the desk.

"Frankly, your suggestion appalls me. I'm an educator, I have no vested interest in seeing E-class fail," Principal Asano stated.

"Well, obviously, I can see that, but this idiot needs convincing," Irina replied and gestured to Karasuma.

"Hmm. Let me be perfectly clear, the chief aim of this institution is to Foster student autonomy. Our students determine their own level of achievement. My role here is ancillary, I do nothing but monitor."

XXX

Tsuna was doing research on the top competitors for the exam. A-Class's Big Five stood out like beacons next to the rest.

1st, Gakushuu Asano. "The principal has a son?" Tsuna incredulously muttered. To be honest, he felt sorry for the kid.

The teacher shook his head and moved on. 2nd, Teppei Araki. 3rd, Ren Sakakibara. 5th, Natsuhiko Koyama. 6th, Tomoya Seo.

XXX

During home economics, Tsuna repeatedly passed by the windows of the classroom in order to help a student. Throughout the class, the teacher felt that someone was watching him. The light buzz in his head confirmed it. But for now, he brushed the feeling aside and focused on his class.

XXX

Korosensei showed up in the teacher's lounge, on a mat opposite to Tsuna. They were alone, Irina was teaching the students and Karasuma had gone to find a quiet spot in the forest. It was somewhat weird for Tsuna to see the octopus not acting like a ball of vibrant energy.

"Ah, Tsuna, I haven't had the chance to talk to you about..." the octopus awkwardly trailed off. The topic was undoubtedly Tsuna's scars. Korosensei was unsure how to approach this subject, and it rather blatantly showed. 

"I decided that sugar coating wouldn't help," Tsuna replied, his tone was flat.

The octopus lowered his head in acknowledgment, "I understand. You wish to let them see the ugly side of being an assassin?"

The brunette teacher frowned, his gaze towards Korosensei mildly accusatory. "Better then letting the students think that the situations they are getting into are safe or cool."

Korosensei sighed, his head briefly turned a light blue due to his sadness, "I try not to scare them. I don't want to do that. My students living in fear...is not what I wish to accomplish."

"Oh? You blew up the moon, then said you'd blow up Earth," Tsuna venomously hissed. The teacher immediately sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose, "forget I said that. That's not what I mean by what I did, it's a separate issue. Anyways, you likely want to know my reasoning behind my stance?"

Korosensei nodded, "if you don't mind."

"A few years ago, my father said this to me, 'ignorance may be bliss, but it's better to be in pain due to knowledge then dead due to ignorance'. My father has never outright apologized for leaving me in the dark about...some things. Many times, I have wished that 'I wish I knew about this' when it came to my father and his struggles. I see no point to sugar coating the consequences of what these kids have been thrown into."

Korosensei nodded, his face once again blue. The octopus clasped two tentacles tips together and wrung them similar to how a human would. He quietly replied, "I understand your position, Tsuna. You are a teacher, you feel responsible for our students well being. Please believe when I say that by encouraging students to laugh and enjoy their time at this school...that I view that as good and important."

The brunette nodded, "enjoying your life and being aware of danger. It is often difficult to balance the two. But perhaps, we can help the students do that."

Korosensei grinned, "agreed."

The don's eyes narrowed, a troubled smirk on his lips. "Although, I must admit, there has been one thing that has been bothering me. Your pervertedness is annoying at times. Putting aside that and my problems with you blowing up Earth, I really only have one grudge against you: your creation of the class's situation. You act like you care, like you care so much you'd be all to willing to die for even one of them. Yet...you pulled these kids to the criminal underground's and many governments's attention. They will likely be stuck at the center of global scrutiny for years when you die.

"Although....you plan to end the world in a few months even though you presumably care so much. You're the best actor I've ever had the misfortune to meet, or..."

Korosensei blinked his beady eyes, a large pearly grin on his face, "or?"

"Or there are the other answers I've been cooking up. One of the more crazy ones is that this situation is all out of your control, even though you're a yellow Mach 20 one man army."

Korosensei sweatdropped and laughed nervously. "Nurufufufu, that's slightly ridiculous, isn't it? I'm slightly offended that you think I, Korosensei, wasn't responsible for my master plan."

"Hmm, yes, rather ridiculous isn't it?" Tsuna replied with a sweet grin that was far too sharp to look natural. 

XXX

"Yes sir, as instructed, I raise the bar considerably with regards to A-Class's test scores. I trust that you're satisfied," a strawberry blond student with violet eyes reported.

"Sadly, no. I require results, young man. A status report, in and of itself is meaningless. You know as well as I that excellence is not so much rewarded as is expected, son. If you and your clsssmates rank in the top fifty and secure the top spot in all subjects you pass," the Principal responded.

Gakushuu rolled his soccer ball under his feet as he spoke, "all to keep the E-Class upstarts firmly in line. I understand the principle all too well, forgive the pun."

The student started bouncing the ball off his head, "why you cling to it is somewhat lost on me. Now, yes, granted, their grades may be on the up swing. But they can only get so far. They won't trump their betters, it's unthinkable."

Principal Asano gave a brief mental sigh. "Don't let that confidence be your undoing my boy, things change. The scales can tip in the favor of the rabble in an instant. The elite do well to take heed. Those at the top must mind their balance."

"An excellent point, very well made. I'll see to it that we get results, sir. One more thing, not asking as your student, but as your son."

"Oh dear, I do hope you don't expect special treatment."

"No, I wouldn't dream of it. It's just simple curiosity, what is it about E-Class? It's almost as if you have something to hide."

The principal's eyes widened, his mind scrambling at to how he tipped his son off.

Gakushuu kicked the soccer ball, it went flying towards his father's face. Mr. Asano caught the ball in his hand with a thud.

"You haven't raised an idiot, father. Any fool can see that the idle have more claim to your attention these days then in years previous. Hard as it is to give credit to, I just can't shake the thought that you're involved in something shady. Rumors of strange happenings: accounts of a flying yellow octopus, a ridiculously disguised man buying buying large amounts of junk food, and well-endowed women hearing body voices saying suggestive things. What gives? Mass hallucinations are something else."

"If didn't know better, I'd say you were digging for something to use against me," the principal observed with narrowed eyes.

"Oh? Why on Earth would I do that? But you could hardly blame me if I was, I am your protege."

The principal chuckled, threw back the ball, and leaned back in his chair. "Nice touch indeed. Spoken like a well trained dog."

Gakushuu gave a quick laugh, "be careful, one day the master might find himself on the leash."

Mr. Asano smiled, "or the dog might find himself enthralled to his master, as a slave until the day he dies."

The two laughed, a cruel fake sound. They concealed their machinations and rigged what they could. This was less a father and his son and more a conniving principal and sly protege.

XXX

Tsuna looked at the students who dragged their feet as they walked into his class.

"What happened?"

"We were in the library yesterday," Kanzaki started. "Some of the top A-Class members showed up and started messing with us," Nagisa continued.

"I...told them to back off," Okuda timidly spoke up. Tsuna gave the shy science lover a look of surprise. Maybe the steady encouragement he had given the girl during their science tutoring-which was jarringly normal compared to how he had been taught-had helped a bit after all.

"...And we may have accidentally challenged A-Class to a bet based on how we rank on the finals," Yuma admitted.

Tsuna threw back his head and laughed, "you are in quite the pickle."

"Hey," Rio protested.

The teacher gave the blond girl a lopsided grin. "Okay, okay, I'll might give you guys some advice since you're in this situation. What are the terms of what you get for winning?"

"We agreed to terms that were suggested, which is one demand," Yuma explained.

"There are no other boundaries besides that?" The teacher incredulously asked.

"Uhh..yeah," Nagisa replied.

The teacher smiled and shook his head, "I'm sure Korosensei is cooking up something more fun...and ethical then what I'm thinking of. So, you won't be getting advice from me on this."

"Aww!" "Please!" "Please Tsuna-sensei!" "You said you'd help us!"

"No, I said I 'might'. My lips are sealed on this, sorry."

XXX

Earlier that day, Gakushuu Asano had written up a legally binding document for E-Class to sign.

'Nested among tons of legal jargon, hides an item of special interest. A sub clause, forbidding E-Class from keeping even the tiniest of secrets,' Gakushuu monologued.

Sub clause 26: When the A-Class asks the E-Class a question, they will answer truthfully, concealing nothing.

'Whatever you're trying to smoke screen father, don't think I won't find it. Once they've signed this, the E-Class dolts will be a cinch to shut down. Soon, I'll have uncovered your weakness. You'll be at my mercy, and we all know your thoughts on that subject.'

XXX

Finals Day arrived.

Tsuna caught up to Nagisa and Rio just as the students walked in the classroom. Karasuma had leaned against the room's door.

The brunette teacher and two students looked in confusion at the unfamiliar purple haired girl that sat at a desk.

"Ritsu's proxy, yeah, I know. The principal said an AI taking the finals against protocol. At least the man is okay with us using a stand-in. Ever have to deal with him giving you 'that look'? It's so...So...it's like he can't even be bothered to pity you. It makes you feel like a d**n child," Karasuma explained with a exasperated sweat drop.

The two students bowed, "thank you for dealing with him!" Tsuna winced in sympathy at his colleague's story.

"Anyways, Ritsu and I have a little message for you guys. Do your best," the government agent smiled. "And good luck," Tsuna tacked on with a grin.

"You got it," Nagisa replied with a small smile.

XXX

There was a quiet shopping center Tsuna would often stop by for food and other necessities.

A constant dull buzz during the time Tsuna was in the center meant someone was watching as he went about his evening. However, he could not pin down the person's location, it seemed to drastically change every few seconds.

Tsuna followed his regular pattern, although inside his head he was disturbed. He considered wearing a disguise to give the slip to his stalker, but decided to observe the observer as much as possible. The don finished shopping and strolled towards the park.

On the side of the buildings, there was a small park with grassy shady areas under a few trees. A pond was in the middle, five benches benches scattered near the water's edge.

Tsuna sat on one of these weathered benches. He set down his groceries and opened up a box of chocolate covered pocky. He munched through two sticks when it felt like someone had driven a spike into his skull. As Tsuna clutched his head and grappled with the pain, a voice shouted 'jump to the left!'. The brunette don obliged. A bullet meant for his head rammed into the water with a small 'shlick'.

The sniper had chosen a great location to take a shot. There were multiple spots to shoot the target, the sound of his gun was covered up by the street and crowd, he or she could blend in with the shoppers, and the bullet would be hard to find among the water and mud. All in all, Tsuna had to give the person props for their cleverness, even if they were trying to kill him.

Tsuna grimaced as the pain in his head subsided, the presence was gone. However, at least the job of the mysterious person had been confirmed. As for the client, the only trouble he stirred up recently was with stealing that shipment. Which meant that the Otogibanashi had found out his identity and sent an assassin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> I actually tried multiple type of pocky while in China, it was pretty good.
> 
> -Silver


	18. Results

Tsuna stopped walking as his HI spiked. There was a soft bang. A bullet flew past his nose. A loud crack followed.

He swung his head to the right and upwards. The sniper was in a tree.

Tsuna jumped backwards. The bullet embedded itself into the ground once again.

There was a muttered word and the pulse in Tsuna's head was gone. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Honestly, this person was getting annoying with how he suddenly kept disappearing.

XXX

Korosensei stood outside of the E-Class building, looking out over the mountain.

'Tests are splendid. The knowledge soaked up by their eager ears in preparation may be forgotten once the dust has settled, but c'est la vie. The thrill of competition, the privilege of honing one's mind to a fine point, the ecstasy of giving it your all, that is the true treasure.'

XXX

Korosensei peered at the test questions. "Oh my, these are excellent questions. Kudos to them I'm impressed. This isn't just some regular classic literature clearing. The students are asked to take infamous 20th century text and correct a misquoted passage. And Salinger no less! He wrote in a style reflective of his 20th century angsty protagonist's voice."

"Yes, hopefully the class was paying attention...These are some difficult questions. But they should be fine," Tsuna commented.

XXX

Gakushuu Asano smiled as he took one copy of the test and passed the rest to the person behind him. 'Mathematics, Akabane's a member of E-Class isn't he? He placed second on the mid-terms, right below me. Quite an accomplishment for an E-Class slacker. Commendable, but not intimidating. You see, I am anything but a slacker.'

In the back of the classroom, Karma smirked. 'Oh, how cute. Look at everyone all so panicked. All so hell bent on not screwing up. The key to true victory is how not to take the game so...seriously. It doesn't matter how hard your opponent works if you're better than them. This should be fun.'

XXX

Nagisa kept his face neutral as he rapidly scribled in answers.  
'Two days of testing. Two days of putting everything on the line. Everything we're trying to do lives or dies by how we do here.'

XXX

Tsuna smiled as he looked at over the grades. Rio Nakamura placed 1st in English, Yuma Isogai placed 1st in Social Studies, and Monomi Okuda placed 1st in Science. Three tentacles that E-Class would get to shoot off from them.

Plus, E-Class won the bet. 3-2 out of the five main subjects.

Tsuna grinned as he saw the results for Home Economics. They had done well...This was going to be fun.

XXX

Karma crumpled up his test results. He had done horribly by last test's standards. 10th in math, 13th in Year 3 overall.

"Never underestimate your target," Korosensei advised. Karma grimaced.

The octopus smiled. "Particularly, if it has a monopoly on grades point averages. The best scores in E-Class went to Kataoka and Takebayashi. Both admirably tied for seventh place. Not surprising, they studied hard. And of course, so did your opponents in A-Class, which us to be expected. These finals were nothing to sneeze at. One's only chance was to study."

"What are you trying to say Teach?" Karma tiredly asked.

Korosensei grinned. "Someone thought they could coast by on luck and a devil may care attitude. And, proceeded to royally screw it up."

Karma's face flushed.

Korosensei started poking Karma's head with his tentacles. "Three of your classmates have a claim to three of my tentacles. You, on the other hand, have none. Which is fair, as that is exactly what your carefree non-commiting has contributed to the cause. See where I'm going with this?

"Those who fail to apply themselves, at the moment of truth, sit back and let the chips fall where they may. And they are destined for disappointment. Dull is the blade of the lazy assassin. Actually, I wouldn't stoop to calling him an assassin at all. A blowhard and a bragart perhaps. But an assassin? I think not," the teacher mocked.

Karma angrily brushed away Korosensei's tentacles and stomped away.

"Hey, don't you think you were too hard on him?" Karasuma asked.

Tsuna frowned. "I think that was the point. Karma's talented, but not mature. He doesn't have motivation or discipline. The pain of defeat will make him hunger for victory."

Korosensei grinned. "You're correct. Karma is talented, but he's a novice. He has much to learn. The difference between the novice and the master is that the master has failed more times then the novice has tried."

XXX

"You've managed to snag the top spot in three of the subjects. Which means that three of my tentacles, which ever ones you wish, are yours to destroy," Korosensei explained.

"Hold up, octopus!" Terasaka called out. From the doorway, Tsuna watched with a smirk as four students got up and walked to the front of the class.

The quartet of students inwardly smiled. "What's this about us only having three of the top spots?" Terasaka questioned.

"Uh, I believe all subjects have been accounted for? English, Japanese, Science, Social Studies, and Math." Korosensei counted the subjects on his tentacles.

Tsuna coughed. "I think you're forgetting one?" He pointedly asked.

Terasaka threw four pieces of paper on Korosensei's desk. All four had '100' circled in red. "English, Japanese, Science, Social Studies, Math, and don't forget, Home Ec. We aced it, read it and weep."

"What? Home Ec.?!" Korosensei yelled in astonishment.

"If it was covered in the finals, it counts," Terasaka stated.

Tsuna chuckled. 'Ryoma Terasaka, Tasei Yoshida, Takuya Muramatsu, and Kirara Hazama. 100 questions correct, all 1st in Year 3. They've grown. Dear God, I feel like I'm going to tear up.'

"Wait, not so fast. Home Ec. is a blowoff course!" Korosensei protested.

Tsuna glared at his fellow teacher.

"No offense meant, Tsuna." Korosensei held his tentacles up defensively.

"Teach, that was just rude. If you ask me, Home Ec. is one of the most important classes," Karma argued.

The class broke out into yells of arguments and support.

"That's seven tentacles in all Koro," Tsuna reminded.

Korosensei shivered and screamed, "seven?!"

"Oh, and Korosensei, we put our heads together. We decided to use our wager with A-Class to sweeten the pot," Yuma Isogai explained as he pulled out a book.

XXX

In the teacher's lounge, Tsuna, Irina, and Korosensei waited for the end of term assembly to be over.

"Those kids got the better of you, that's got to sting," Irina commented.

Korosensei grinned. "Let's be honest the Home Ec. argument was splitting hairs. But so be it. I'm honestly glad. Sure, no accredited university devotes space to Home Ec. on their entrance exams. But that means Home Ec. teachers have more room to create an exam based on personal taste. Preparing for something that arbitrary is a near impossible feat. The limits those boys and girl stretched themselves to, for a leg up on the finals, give me pause. They flush and successfully exploited the smallest of loopholes to make headway. Seasoned assassins could take a page from their book."

"Yeah, they put a lot of work into it," Tsuna agreed with a smile. "I'm going to go take a walk in the forest. Try not to kill each other while I'm gone. No, nevermind. Kill the octopus if possible."

Korosensei cried mucus, tissue box and tissues in his tentacles. "Why? Do you hate me? Why do you want me dead?"

"I don't know, Koro, maybe because you're going to destroy Earth in a few months?" Tsuna deadpanned as he walked out.

"He takes a lot of walks in the woods, doesn't he?" Irina commented.

Korosensei popped back to normal, a large grin on his face. "Hmm, Tsuna does walk a lot. I wonder what he does?"

XXX

Tsuna leaned against a large mossy stone. He scanned around the area. There was no one there? Was his wannabe killer having lunch or something?

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows as he turned around. "You're a sniper, why are you directly approaching me?"

The unknown man, about five yards away, stopped and grinned. He had short black hair and wore a green and brown camo jacket. "Ehh, I'm giving up. I'm 'Glint' by the way."

"What?" Tsuna asked, dumbfounded.

In Italy, Reborn felt the sudden urge to put down 'Tsuna's poker face tor-training' for things to do during the summer.

Glint leaned against the rock, mirroring Tsuna's position. "So, Vongola Decimo, I'll tell my client you disappeared and I couldn't find you."

Tsuna tensed. Somebody knew who he was, this was bad. "How?"

Glint scoffed. "Your rings make it pretty obvious. I suggest hiding them when the next guy comes after you."

Tsuna mentally noted the tip for the furture, it was true that his rings were rather eye catching. "Oh? Not ratting me out on my position or the...octopus?" Tsuna raised an eyebrow. He truly was curious at this point.

"Nah, assassinations aren't fun without a few surprises. Besides, this way you owe me one." Glint grinned.

"You're a very odd man," Tsuna wryly commented.

"Says the Vongola Mafia Boss," Glint teased.

"Fair enough," Tsuna admitted. "Anyways, how did you keep disappearing? It was extremely...frustrating to not be able to chase you."

"Simple." Glint shrugged. "I'm a Mist."

Tsuna facepalmed. "Yes, that would explain it," he muttered. He felt like an idiot. Tsuna hadn't been expecting to run into any Flame Users in Japan and so hadn't thought of the very obvious answer of Mist Flames.

Glint chuckled. "Anyways, got to go. See you around." He promptly disappeared.

Tsuna sighed. That assassin was...interesting, but never lied thoroughout their conversation. He'd have to look into 'Glint' sometime....sometime soon. Especially since he now truly did owe the guy a large favor.

XXX

Mr. Asano watched the assembly from his computer. 'The term comes to a close with E-Class more aware of their potential. The whole school is more aware. The winds of change are stirring, fanning the flames of rebellion. And here we stand, the Earth's very survival in question. All in all, my education methods function as they always have, well oiled machinery. And yet, the underdogs threaten to be an inspiration, a beacon. Absolutely unacceptable.'

XXX

"Who even cares? So they get to go to Okinawa with us, big deal, it's a local trip."

The rest of A-Class vehemently disagreed, getting up in the Big Fives faces, with the exception of Asano.

"You were supposed to represent!"

"You tested and you choked!"

"Asano is the only one of you worth a d**n!"

"Everyone, shut up," Gakushuu Asano ordered. "We lost, that's the end of it. At least have grew self respect to be graceful in defeat," he lectured. The rest of A-Class settled down.

Asano laced his hands together. 'Heads will roll for this. E-Class's necks are the first on the chopping block. Followed by my father.'

XXX

"So, what will it be?" Korosensei asked the class.

Yuma Isogai, class representative. stood up. "Well, we've decided we'd like cash in our 'tentacles freebie' options during summer."

XXX

The students caught up to Tsuna near the bottom of the mountain.

"In a hurry? Why'd you leave so soon?" Maehara questioned.

"It's not because I don't enjoy all of your company," Tsuna replied with a smile. "I just have somethings I need to set up, is all."

"Hey Tsuna-sensei, are you coming with us to Okinawa?" Kurahashi enthusiastically asked.

"Unfortunately, I have to touch base with my Family and work this summer." Tsuna sighed.

"Are you going to get swapped out for a different person? Like how the Japanese government tried to do with Mr. Karasuma?" Fuwa guessed.

Several of the students looked uneasy at the thought.

"I'll definitely be here for the rest of the school year, so don't worry," Tsuna reassured. He grinned. "And you guys have to tell me how the trip went when I get back. Everything about the food and crazy shenanigans. Okay?"

"Alright!" E-Class happily agreed.

"Yeah, we'll tell you all the juicy secrets," Nakamura joked. Tsuna and several of the students chuckled, the others sighed or shook their heads.

Tsuna waved goodbye as he walked towards his parked car. "It's a deal then!"

Nagisa smiled. "Tsuna-sensei is pretty great. I'm glad he's one of our teachers."

Sugino nodded. "Yeah, the guy is pretty awesome."

"Also, pretty terrifying. Be glad you weren't the one chosen to go through that crazy baseball regimen," Karma commented.

"Really? What'd he have you do?" Kataoka asked, her eyes curious.

Karma's eyes glazed over. He grimaced. "I don't think you'd want to know some of it after you knew. Let's just say he's a slave driver."

'For Karma to think it was that horrible, it must have been bad,' Nagisa thought.

"But, you still think he's pretty cool, though, right?" Sugino asked.

Karma tilted his head. "Yeah. Tsuna-sensei's definitely cooler than any of our other teachers."

"Mr. Karasuma is pretty cool too," Kataoka defended.

"Yeah, but Tsuna-sensei is way more cool." Karma smirked. "He had me spar against him as part of the training and I didn't been get close to hitting him. Tsuna-sensei is much faster."

"And, Mr. Karasuma is more withdrawn. Tsuna-sensei is always open about things with us," Maehara chimed in. "Although, don't get me wrong, I really like Mr. Karasuma too."

"They're both cool. They're both great and both of them help us a lot. I don't think we need to compare them," Yuma commented. Murmurs of support were heard from the rest of the students.

Kurahashi hummed in thought. She suddenly pumped her fist. "Oh! Mr. Karasuma is the mysterious teacher. And Tsuna-sensei is the big brother teacher."

"Huh. That seems right. What'd that make the other two?" Nakamura asked.

"Korosensei's the jokester, definitely," Sugino answered.

The rest immediately agreed. "Can't argue with that." "Yeah, that's him." "Korosensei in a nutshell."

"And Irina?" Nakamura questioned.

"The child," most students said in unison.

Nagisa sweatdropped. 'It kinda says something about her if that many of us say the same thing.'

Yuma shook his head. "At the beginning, she was horrible. But she has gotten better. You have to admit."

"Yeah," E-Class grudgingly affirmed.


	19. A trip to Italy is not a vacation

Italy

The Vongola Mansion was massive. The whole place seemed to be more like something out of a fairytale, then real life.The gardens were perfectly cut. The walkways were a pristine white. The glass windows were spotless and gleamed in the rosy dawn light.

Tsunayoshi opened one of the heavy wooden double doors. He set down his suitcase and drew in a breath. "I'm home!" He announced.

I-Pin and Lambo seemed to appear out of nowhere. They squeezed their older brother in a bear hug. Fuuta joined the hug with a slight smile, helping the efforts to cause Tsuna to die from lack of air.

"Welcome back," Takeshi cheerfully greeted. He stood at the top of the stairs, he had just left the office. The swordsman quickly slid down the banister. 

"I think I'm suffocating," Tsuna dramatically groaned. The children around him giggled.

Takeshi laughed and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "By the way, the others are out, except for Reborn and Kyoko. They should be back for dinner."

Tsunayoshi grinned. "Good."

XXX

After he'd made the promise to hang out with them-and was subsequently released from the arms of his little siblings-he put his luggage in his bedroom. Then, Tsuna started towards Kyoko's room.

He knocked on the door. "It's me," he politely said.

The door opened. His fiance, Kyoko, a beautiful woman with the long brown hair, grinned at him. "Tsuna, you're back!" 

Tsunayoshi immediately grinned in reply. For how could he not, this was the woman he loved and she was happy. He was overjoyed to see her and pushed his exhaustion to the back of his mind. "Yeah, I'm back," he softly replied.

"Come in! Tell me about how you've been doing? How were your students?"

XXX

An enjoyable two hour talk later, Tsunayoshi went to his office. He did not knock, he did not need to, it was his office after all.

Reborn was leaning back in the black chair, his feet on Tsuna's desk. He noticed the opening of the door, but gave no sign that he did.

"Do you want your fedora back?" Tsuna questioned. He hung his coat on the hook by the door. The young man walked over to his desk, hands in his pockets. His eyes gained a happy gleam to them as he spotted the small wooden container. He immediately popped a few chocolate covered espresso beans into his mouth.

"Any damage?" Reborn asked. He took his feet off of Tsuna's desk and stood up. He put down the file he'd been reading.

"None," Tsuna chirped. He watched Leon clamber up Reborn's shoulder to his owner's collarbone.

"No reason for me to take it back if you've upheld your side of the deal."

Tsuna grinned."Yeah, but it's really weird to see you without it."

Reborn rolled his eyes and plucked the hat off of Tsuna's head.

"Hey," Tsuna protested.

Reborn smirked and put it on.

XXX

Dinner w/ family

Guardians, CEDEF, Varia

Tsuna sighed as he looked up from his plate. "Stop fighting for five seconds," he ordered. His usually brown eyes were orange. "Pass me the salt."

The room had fallen silent. The salt shaker was passed swiftly, but carefully, down the line of people. At the mark of four seconds, Iemitsu passed it to Reborn and Reborn handed it to Tsuna, who muttered his thanks.

Near the other end of the table, Xanxus grumbled something irritably. The insult was loud enough to be heard by the sharp ears of those around him and the furious arguing started again.

Tsuna shook his head. "They really never stop, do they? I don't understand how they never run out of energy."

"The Family's vigour is a blessing at times, and a curse at others," Reborn commented. He gave a slight smirk as he pointedly looked at the rest of the table.

Iemitsu and Tsuna snorted.

XXX

Chat: Sane Squad

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: I'm bored.

DefyingGravity: Same.

DefyingGravity: I'm waiting for dinner to be cooked

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: Nice username

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: I like it

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: How was the paperwork?

DefyingGravity: Slightly less then usual

DefyingGravity: Most of my Guardians are out

DefyingGravity: You?

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: Ehhhh....

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: It was...alright?

DefyingGravity: Any major repairs needed for the mansion?

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: A few

LuckyCoin is online

LuckyCoin: I just had to deal with three international incidents

LuckyCoin: I don't even know how Alex caused three messesin five hours!

Bucking_Bronco is online

Before Tsuna could say hello to his friend, he heard a knock on his door. He slipped his phone in his pocket and went to open the door.

"How have you been holding up, son?"

Tsuna stared in surprise. "Dad? You're still here?"

Iemitsu Sawada grinned. "Of course, it's been a while since our family has been able to be together. Mom and I decided to stay the night." He waved a hand nonchalantly. "But, anyways, how are you holding up? How has it been?"

"It's been fun, but stressful." Tsuna paused, staring at the floor. He frowned. "And I don't really know if I have been handling things right."

"Okay." Iemitsu nodded, a quick and sure movement. "Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to talk about something else?"

Tsuna scratched the back of his head. He sighed. "Maybe...would you be fine with just listening? I think I'd just like to get my thoughts and everything off my chest."

"Of course," Iemitsu acquiesced. He ruffled his son's face with a smile. 

Tsuna pulled away with a disgruntled face. "Dad, I'm an adult," he complained. 

"So? You'll always be your parents's little Tuna-fish," Iemitsu teased.

Tsuna shook his head but couldn't stop the small smile tugging at his lips.

XXX

Lucretius had taken a job from the Tsuna. He wanted the Saoirse to track down where the octopus 'Koro-sensei' originated from. Due to the money offered and the close relationship between Vongola and Saoirse, Lucretius would oversee the job personally.

There were several difficulties in the task she had accepted. 

For one, the creature was fluent in several languages and able to travel at Mach 20. And another one was no known place of origin for satient, talking ocotopuses. 

Lecretius chose a team and had them comb through weird happenings that happened over three months ago, focused on tentacles and octopuses. There were thousands of events to be investigated worldwide.

Let me impress upon you that it was no small, easy number to sift throughout. In most police investigations for criminals, there's perhaps only a few leads. This on the other hand, was thousands of leads spread out across the globe. 

The search field narrowed...until they were down to a handful of incidents...all in Japan.

Lucretius smirked. "Good job everyone, we're getting close."

XXX

A meeting with allies was inevitable. For Tsuna not to appear in public every once in a while, at least every few months, would lead to rumors and his Family appearing weak.

Therefore, Tsuna must attend a party. Dino had known of his friend's return date and had sent an invitation two months ago. He had attended, but it wasn't the wisest choice to only attend that party this summer. He chose his second party to be one held by a neutral Family, who had sent an invitation.

Not having a shabby appearance was part of the battle, they came dressed for the high society, criminal occasion it was. Tsuna and Gokudera were dressed in sharp, tailored black suits. Tsuna's was striped with gold thread, while Gokudera's had silver. Their ties represented their Flame, orange for Sky and red for Storm. Weapons were hidden around their body, in utter disregard for the 'no weapons' rule only a fool would stick to.

Tsuna happily met with Dons of newer Families and smaller Families he had no personal connection to. A small true smile that went unnoticed by most would curl onto his face as he talked to the ones he liked.

Gokudera got very close to blowing up a door, three flower bushes, and five people. A well-timed look from his Boss stopped him before he struck a match to light a stick of dynamite. 

Petty remarks and scathing insults were a test. It was a game of chicken, the objective was to not break your composure. Gokudera was notoriously horrible at it, but was shielded from most of it by being a famous assassin and by his scowl seeming to be permanently ironed on. Takeshi was the best Guardian with such games, he also had a talent for unnerving his verbal opponents. 

Gokudera was best for a straightforward approach and avoidance of unsavory Don. But when Tsuna wanted to network, dig for information, or subtly, politely confront someone, his choice of guard was Takeshi.

Tsuna sipped idly at the wine in his glass as he thought. He was glad he had already made his rounds.

The party members thinned out as the night grew older. At the sound of bells ringing ten times, Tsuna made a small gesture with his pinky towards the entrance of the estate. 

Gokudera gave a slight nod. He pulled out his phone and ordered something in a low voice. He alerted the driver to pull around to the front. He kept his eye on his Boss as he talked and Tsuna strayed further away.

The Vongola Decimo confidently walked over to the host and politely announced his departure. The host was thankful for his visit and made no mention of hopes for strengthening ties between their Families. But Tsuna saw the older man's sincere warmth and mentally noted to cement Vongola's friendship to the Rianno Family.

XXX

There was a large living room in the east wing. A projector, playing a movie, cast a dim light over the room. 

Tsuna lazily watched from one of the couches, he was encircled by his family. Kyoko was snuggled up against his right shoulder, her fluffy blanket spilled over onto her fiance's lap. On Tsuna's left, his Dad, Iemitsu, sat with an arm around his Mom's shoulder. Lambo, I-Pin, and Fran leaned against his legs.

Another popcorn kernel flew across the room, plinking off Hibari's forehead. He started and shot a furious glare towards Mukuro. 

Mukuro kept his gaze on the screen, an innocent look on his face. 

Fran bit his lip, holding back a smile.

XXX

The fedora was sitting on Tsunayoshi's desk. He grinned as he plunked it onto his head. Reborn had decided to keep to their joke of a deal.

He slid into his seat and got to work. 

A nut turned into a sprout. A sprout grew into tree. The tree was chopped down and made into paper. Ink was added by use of a printer, creating paperwork.

These infernal creations, the remains of dead trees, were the difficult challenge for Tsuna. He could handle fighting-he could bet pretty much anyone alive. He could usually wrangle his Family into some sort of order. But hated the dull, bland actions of reading over and signing paperwork. 

Tsuna sighed. He wanted to-he frowned. His pen had run out of ink.

The door opened. Gokudera entered, a stack of papers in his arms. 

Tsuna's pen shot past Gokudera and into the trash can. He scowled.

Gokudera placed the stack on the desk and retreated.

Tsuna pulled a new pen out of the small mug on his desk. The engraving on it was in Italian, it meant 'big brother'.

There was a shudder and three loud booms. Tsuna gently put down his pen and went over to the window. "Stop using explosives!" He bellowed.

He paused, there were no explosions. He went back to his desk.

There was a loud boom, crack, and thud. It was the unfortunately familiar sound of a wall breaking.

Tsuna slammed down his pen. He stalked over to the window. There was a flicker of orange in his eyes. "Quiet! Stop breaking things, or I will come over you!"

He waited for a moment, an eyebrow raised. The silence continued. He sat down and started working again.

A while later, he rubbed his cramped hand. It took a long time, but Tsuna finally dealt with the rest of the backlog. He was going to go to the kitchen and make himself a late lunch.

XXX

His phone buzzed, a ringtone played. Tsunablinked his bleary eyes. He picked it up. 

LuckyCoin: I have information about Class E-3 being in danger 

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: Price?

LuckyCoin: XX, XXX

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: Deal.

LuckyCoin: An 'Akira Takaoka' hired three assassins. He is currently in Okinawa, the same place as your class.

XXX

Chat: Vongola fam

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: My class is in trouble. 

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: I will be leaving immediately.

ILikeEspresso: Destination?

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: Okinawa

ILikeEspresso: Sudden decisions are not a mark of a good mafia boss. 

UnfortunateCatchOfTheDay: False. Good quick decisions are necessary in emergencies and a sign of a good mafia boss.

ILikeEspresso: Correct.Have fun Dame-Tsuna.

XXX

So, Tsuna could go on a long plane flight. Or, he could owe a favor. Which is why he waltzed through the halls of Vendicare to find their leader. He avoided the cloaked wraiths with ease.

Bermuda von Veckenschtein was

teenager dressed solely in black. A tophat was perched on his silver hair and bandages were wrapped neatly around his hands. He stared at Tsuna, a neutral look on his face.

"Hello. I need a portal to Okinawa,"Tsuna requested. He gave a close-eyed smile.

Bermuda blinked at his visitor and gestured towards the wall. A portal of black nothingness formed.

"Thanks Bermuda," Tsuna chirped. He stepped inside.

A/N

Late Merry Christmas! This was supposed to be posted on the 25th, but I've been sick for a while.

Updating for The Mafia Teacher during spring will be slow, because I don't have chapters saved up for this story and I'm going to be busy. But, there will also be other spring stories, including a Katekyo Hitman Reborn story called Before Your Time that I'll be posting.

On Wattpad and on fanfiction.net, The Mafia Teacher has gotten over 100k reads! Which is amazing!

I haven't really replied to people, so I'll do some now. Also, I'll answer questions next chapter (sometime in spring), so go ahead and ask.

Replies:

Some people wondered who LuckyCoin from the 'Trip to Kyoto, with Tsuna' was. As was revealed officially in this chapter, LuckyCoin is Lucretius.And yes, Bucking_Bronco is Dino, ILikeEspresso is Reborn, DefyingGravity is Enma's username.

The Silver Knight: Who knows? I'm not Byakuran however.

FieryRedRose789: Cameoes of Alex, at least for now.

See ya next year!

-Silver


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